Tweet
IRAN, AZERBAIJAN TRY TO SOOTHE TENSIONS
NOW LEBANON
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=375438
March 13 2012
Iran and Azerbaijan are taking steps to soothe bilateral tensions most
recently stoked by Baku's ties to Israel and its reported purchase
of hundreds of millions of dollars of weapons from the Jewish state.
Public assurances of good neighborly relations were being made in
Tehran during a visit by Azerbaijan Defence Minister Safar Abiyev
that continued into its second day on Tuesday.
"We are sure that we will face no problem from our brother and
neighbor Azerbaijan," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was
quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying on
Monday after meeting Abiyev.
"Rest assured that Tehran-Baku ties will never be harmed," he said,
adding that "artificial problems" that existed would be resolved and
ties would be strengthened.
Abiyev was quoted as saying that "no nation can damage ties between
the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan."
He vowed that his country "will not allow anyone to use its soil and
airspace against the Islamic Republic of Iran, since we consider Iran
as a friend and brother."
The professed closeness sought to mend a rift opened up by Iranian
news reports that Azerbaijan had bought $1.5 billion worth of weapons
from Israel.
Iran's foreign ministry last month summoned Azerbaijan's ambassador to
Tehran to request an explanation about the purchase, and to deliver a
warning that Israel must not be permitted to use Azerbaijan to stage
"terrorist acts" against Iran.
While Azerbaijan did not confirm the arms deal with Israel at the
time, it did say it was boosting its arsenal "to liberate occupied
Azerbaijani land" and it did not have hostile intentions against
other countries in the region.
The "occupied land" referred to the disputed region of Nagorny
Karabakh which was seized from Azerbaijan by Armenian forces during
a war in the 1990s. No peace deal has been signed between Azerbaijan
and Armenia despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire.
Abiyev discussed the weapons issue in greater detail on Monday with
Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi.
After their meeting, Abiyev was quoted by the Iranian news agency ISNA
as saying: "These relations (with Israel) are not the way that the
media have portrayed and I don't want the media to take this issue
so seriously."
Vahidi added: "We talked about this issue with our Azerbaijani friends
and they explained to us that it is not as it was reported by the
media, and that the deal goes back to previous years and that amount
is not that much."
Neither minister elaborated on the Azerbaijan-Israel arms deal.
The problem with that deal emerged after a separate incident in
Azerbaijan in which police 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 last 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."
NOW LEBANON
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=375438
March 13 2012
Iran and Azerbaijan are taking steps to soothe bilateral tensions most
recently stoked by Baku's ties to Israel and its reported purchase
of hundreds of millions of dollars of weapons from the Jewish state.
Public assurances of good neighborly relations were being made in
Tehran during a visit by Azerbaijan Defence Minister Safar Abiyev
that continued into its second day on Tuesday.
"We are sure that we will face no problem from our brother and
neighbor Azerbaijan," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was
quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying on
Monday after meeting Abiyev.
"Rest assured that Tehran-Baku ties will never be harmed," he said,
adding that "artificial problems" that existed would be resolved and
ties would be strengthened.
Abiyev was quoted as saying that "no nation can damage ties between
the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan."
He vowed that his country "will not allow anyone to use its soil and
airspace against the Islamic Republic of Iran, since we consider Iran
as a friend and brother."
The professed closeness sought to mend a rift opened up by Iranian
news reports that Azerbaijan had bought $1.5 billion worth of weapons
from Israel.
Iran's foreign ministry last month summoned Azerbaijan's ambassador to
Tehran to request an explanation about the purchase, and to deliver a
warning that Israel must not be permitted to use Azerbaijan to stage
"terrorist acts" against Iran.
While Azerbaijan did not confirm the arms deal with Israel at the
time, it did say it was boosting its arsenal "to liberate occupied
Azerbaijani land" and it did not have hostile intentions against
other countries in the region.
The "occupied land" referred to the disputed region of Nagorny
Karabakh which was seized from Azerbaijan by Armenian forces during
a war in the 1990s. No peace deal has been signed between Azerbaijan
and Armenia despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire.
Abiyev discussed the weapons issue in greater detail on Monday with
Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi.
After their meeting, Abiyev was quoted by the Iranian news agency ISNA
as saying: "These relations (with Israel) are not the way that the
media have portrayed and I don't want the media to take this issue
so seriously."
Vahidi added: "We talked about this issue with our Azerbaijani friends
and they explained to us that it is not as it was reported by the
media, and that the deal goes back to previous years and that amount
is not that much."
Neither minister elaborated on the Azerbaijan-Israel arms deal.
The problem with that deal emerged after a separate incident in
Azerbaijan in which police 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 last 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."