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MP SAYS 17 CAUCASIAN CITIES "INTERESTED IN JOINING" IRAN
Fars News Agency , Iran
April 3 2013
A senior Iranian MP has said that 17 Caucasian cities, including Baku,
"are interested in joining Iran", Fars News Agency reported on 3 April.
"A trend has started calling for 17 Caucasian cities, including some
in Azerbaijan, to join our country; we hope that this is achieved
with the support of the people and international organizations,"
Mansur Haqiqatpur, deputy head of Iranian parliament's national
security and foreign policy committee told Fars.
The MP was reacting angrily to Azerbaijan hosting a conference of
groups seeking independence for Iran's 20 million-strong minority of
ethnic Azeris.
On 31 March, Iran summoned the Azeri ambassador to Tehran over the
conference, which it termed as "unjustifiable".
Despite this, Haqiqatpur criticized Iran's reaction to the conference,
saying: "Some of the contemptible statements of Azeri officials were
not confronted seriously."
"The issue about 17 cities in the region joining our country is
serious, and there is going to be a meeting about this in the
Caucasus," he added.
Chiding relations between Azerbaijan, Israel and the UK, the Iranian
MP said: "These foreign regimes laugh at Azerbaijani statesmen,
and consider them too weak to liberate the 20 per cent of their land
which is occupied by the Armenians."
Haqiqatpur described the level of ties between Iran and Azerbaijan
as "weak and lower than average", and said: "Expanding ties must be
damaging to them, which is why they think of downgrading relations
with Iran everyday."
He added that he had written nine letters to Azerbaijan's parliament,
to which they had not "given a transparent response".
[Translated from Persian]
Fars News Agency , Iran
April 3 2013
A senior Iranian MP has said that 17 Caucasian cities, including Baku,
"are interested in joining Iran", Fars News Agency reported on 3 April.
"A trend has started calling for 17 Caucasian cities, including some
in Azerbaijan, to join our country; we hope that this is achieved
with the support of the people and international organizations,"
Mansur Haqiqatpur, deputy head of Iranian parliament's national
security and foreign policy committee told Fars.
The MP was reacting angrily to Azerbaijan hosting a conference of
groups seeking independence for Iran's 20 million-strong minority of
ethnic Azeris.
On 31 March, Iran summoned the Azeri ambassador to Tehran over the
conference, which it termed as "unjustifiable".
Despite this, Haqiqatpur criticized Iran's reaction to the conference,
saying: "Some of the contemptible statements of Azeri officials were
not confronted seriously."
"The issue about 17 cities in the region joining our country is
serious, and there is going to be a meeting about this in the
Caucasus," he added.
Chiding relations between Azerbaijan, Israel and the UK, the Iranian
MP said: "These foreign regimes laugh at Azerbaijani statesmen,
and consider them too weak to liberate the 20 per cent of their land
which is occupied by the Armenians."
Haqiqatpur described the level of ties between Iran and Azerbaijan
as "weak and lower than average", and said: "Expanding ties must be
damaging to them, which is why they think of downgrading relations
with Iran everyday."
He added that he had written nine letters to Azerbaijan's parliament,
to which they had not "given a transparent response".
[Translated from Persian]