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CLINTON VERIFIED AZERBAIJANI NEUTRALITY
by Maxim Yusin
WPS Agency
June 7 2012
Russia
Source: Kommersant, No 102, June 7, 2012, p. 7
THE UNITED STATES COUNTS ON HELP FROM BAKU IN THE WAR WITH IRAN; U.S.
State Secretary Hillary Clinton visited Azerbaijan.
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton was met in Baku yesterday. The
capital of Azerbaijan became the last stop on her tour of the
Caucasus. America's interest in Azerbaijan is attributed to the
situation with Iran. Should Washington decide to go for it and launch
a military operation against Iran, Baku's assistance will be crucial.
The use of military objects on the territory of Azerbaijan will enable
the Pentagon to open the "northern front" against Iran.
The Azerbaijani authorities meanwhile claim that their country
will retain neutrality in the so far hypothetical American-Iranian
conflict. Experts doubt that Baku will be permitted this luxury.
Besides, the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations noticeably deteriorated
lately for a whole number of reasons.
Tehran is seething over military cooperation between Baku and
Tel-Aviv. It was only recently that this cooperation culminated in
an unprecedented (by regional standards) arms deal. Azerbaijan bought
$1.6 billion worth of military hardware from Israel. Some media outlets
report that Azerbaijan and Israel even agreed to let Israeli aircraft
use Azerbaijani airfields for raids into Iran... Official spokesmen
for both countries categorically denounced the innuendo.
In March, Azerbaijani secret services exposed a network of Iranian
terrorists and arrested 22 people who had conspired to assassinate
American and Israeli diplomats. Tehran denied involvement and
accused Baku of plotting to end up with the northern regions of Iran
with the predominantly Azerbaijani population (between 18 and 30
million Azerbaijanis reside there). Indeed, some hotheads within the
Azerbaijani parliament once suggested renaming the country into North
Azerbaijan - as it to emphasize that South Azerbaijan was there too,
just across the border.
Diplomatic conflict between Azerbaijan and Iran continues. The Iranian
Foreign Ministry recalled the ambassador from Baku in late May. As an
excuse, it referred to defamation of Ajatollah Hamenei in the course of
protests in front of the Iranian Embassy. A week ago, the Azerbaijani
authorities denied entry visa to Farid Esri, ajatollah's advisor.
Official Tehran in its turn takes it out on Azerbaijani truckers who
ferry goods to Nakhichevan, part of Azerbaijan separated from the
rest of the country so that the roads to it pass either via Iran or
Armenia (which is off bounds for the Azerbaijanis these days). In other
words, supplies get to Nakhichevan only when the Iranian authorities
permit it.
The Iranians' close relations with Armenia are another source of
friction in the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations. Official Baku reckons
that the Iranian authorities support Yerevan and therefore help it
survive isolation and transport blockade.
The Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict became one of the items on the agenda
of Clinton's visit to Baku. Another clash occurred on the border
between the two countries several day ago (the Armenians reported
three casualties and the Azerbaijanis, five). Baku condemns Yerevan
for the reluctance to solve the problem of Karabakh and appeals to the
international community to put the Armenian leadership under pressure.
[translated from Russian]
by Maxim Yusin
WPS Agency
June 7 2012
Russia
Source: Kommersant, No 102, June 7, 2012, p. 7
THE UNITED STATES COUNTS ON HELP FROM BAKU IN THE WAR WITH IRAN; U.S.
State Secretary Hillary Clinton visited Azerbaijan.
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton was met in Baku yesterday. The
capital of Azerbaijan became the last stop on her tour of the
Caucasus. America's interest in Azerbaijan is attributed to the
situation with Iran. Should Washington decide to go for it and launch
a military operation against Iran, Baku's assistance will be crucial.
The use of military objects on the territory of Azerbaijan will enable
the Pentagon to open the "northern front" against Iran.
The Azerbaijani authorities meanwhile claim that their country
will retain neutrality in the so far hypothetical American-Iranian
conflict. Experts doubt that Baku will be permitted this luxury.
Besides, the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations noticeably deteriorated
lately for a whole number of reasons.
Tehran is seething over military cooperation between Baku and
Tel-Aviv. It was only recently that this cooperation culminated in
an unprecedented (by regional standards) arms deal. Azerbaijan bought
$1.6 billion worth of military hardware from Israel. Some media outlets
report that Azerbaijan and Israel even agreed to let Israeli aircraft
use Azerbaijani airfields for raids into Iran... Official spokesmen
for both countries categorically denounced the innuendo.
In March, Azerbaijani secret services exposed a network of Iranian
terrorists and arrested 22 people who had conspired to assassinate
American and Israeli diplomats. Tehran denied involvement and
accused Baku of plotting to end up with the northern regions of Iran
with the predominantly Azerbaijani population (between 18 and 30
million Azerbaijanis reside there). Indeed, some hotheads within the
Azerbaijani parliament once suggested renaming the country into North
Azerbaijan - as it to emphasize that South Azerbaijan was there too,
just across the border.
Diplomatic conflict between Azerbaijan and Iran continues. The Iranian
Foreign Ministry recalled the ambassador from Baku in late May. As an
excuse, it referred to defamation of Ajatollah Hamenei in the course of
protests in front of the Iranian Embassy. A week ago, the Azerbaijani
authorities denied entry visa to Farid Esri, ajatollah's advisor.
Official Tehran in its turn takes it out on Azerbaijani truckers who
ferry goods to Nakhichevan, part of Azerbaijan separated from the
rest of the country so that the roads to it pass either via Iran or
Armenia (which is off bounds for the Azerbaijanis these days). In other
words, supplies get to Nakhichevan only when the Iranian authorities
permit it.
The Iranians' close relations with Armenia are another source of
friction in the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations. Official Baku reckons
that the Iranian authorities support Yerevan and therefore help it
survive isolation and transport blockade.
The Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict became one of the items on the agenda
of Clinton's visit to Baku. Another clash occurred on the border
between the two countries several day ago (the Armenians reported
three casualties and the Azerbaijanis, five). Baku condemns Yerevan
for the reluctance to solve the problem of Karabakh and appeals to the
international community to put the Armenian leadership under pressure.
[translated from Russian]