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AZERBAIJAN REJECTS IRAN FEARS OVER ISRAEL 'ARMS BUY'
Agence France Presse
February 29, 2012 Wednesday 9:57 AM GMT
Azerbaijan on Wednesday dismissed an Iranian protest over its reported
deal to buy arms worth $1.5 billion from Tehran's foe Israel amid
increased tensions between the neighbouring states.
Azerbaijan's ambassador was summoned to Iran's foreign ministry on
Tuesday to explain the weapons and to receive a warning that Israel
must not be permitted to use Azerbaijan to stage "terrorist acts"
against Iran.
But the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said that the reported weapons
purchases -- which it did not confirm -- were not intended to
threaten Iran.
"Our foreign policy is not directed against anyone else," foreign
ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told a news conference.
Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday that Azerbaijan's ambassador
to Tehran, Javanshir Akhundov, had acknowledged the arms deal.
Akhundov explained that the weapons were bought "to liberate occupied
Azerbaijani land", according to the reports -- a reference to the
disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh which was seized from Azerbaijan
by Armenian forces during a war in the 1990s.
The foreign ministry also cited the continuing conflict with neighbour
Armenia over Karabakh, where no peace deal has been signed despite
years of negotiations since the 1994 ceasefire.
"Azerbaijani lands are under occupation and we have one million
refugees and internally displaced people, so we will do everything to
restore territorial integrity and return our lands," Abdullayev said.
The arms deal row came a week after police in Azerbaijan said they
arrested an unspecified number of people linked to Iran and to the
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on suspicion of planning attacks
in the country.
Iran this month also accused Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, of
working with Israel's spy services and helping assassins who murdered
Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years -- a claim rejected by
Baku as "slander".
Relations between Tehran and Baku have been tense for several months,
with Azerbaijan saying in January that it had detained two other
people allegedly linked to Iranian intelligence on suspicion of
plotting attacks.
Agence France Presse
February 29, 2012 Wednesday 9:57 AM GMT
Azerbaijan on Wednesday dismissed an Iranian protest over its reported
deal to buy arms worth $1.5 billion from Tehran's foe Israel amid
increased tensions between the neighbouring states.
Azerbaijan's ambassador was summoned to Iran's foreign ministry on
Tuesday to explain the weapons and to receive a warning that Israel
must not be permitted to use Azerbaijan to stage "terrorist acts"
against Iran.
But the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said that the reported weapons
purchases -- which it did not confirm -- were not intended to
threaten Iran.
"Our foreign policy is not directed against anyone else," foreign
ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told a news conference.
Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday that Azerbaijan's ambassador
to Tehran, Javanshir Akhundov, had acknowledged the arms deal.
Akhundov explained that the weapons were bought "to liberate occupied
Azerbaijani land", according to the reports -- a reference to the
disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh which was seized from Azerbaijan
by Armenian forces during a war in the 1990s.
The foreign ministry also cited the continuing conflict with neighbour
Armenia over Karabakh, where no peace deal has been signed despite
years of negotiations since the 1994 ceasefire.
"Azerbaijani lands are under occupation and we have one million
refugees and internally displaced people, so we will do everything to
restore territorial integrity and return our lands," Abdullayev said.
The arms deal row came a week after police in Azerbaijan said they
arrested an unspecified number of people linked to Iran and to the
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on suspicion of planning attacks
in the country.
Iran this month also accused Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, of
working with Israel's spy services and helping assassins who murdered
Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years -- a claim rejected by
Baku as "slander".
Relations between Tehran and Baku have been tense for several months,
with Azerbaijan saying in January that it had detained two other
people allegedly linked to Iranian intelligence on suspicion of
plotting attacks.