The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan issued a joint statement regarding the incident, but Tehran gave no response whatsoever. This environment in the region shows that events are not progressing in the best way, especially between the two countries.
“Iran makes these moves one after another in order to push Azerbaijan to some kind of compromise in foreign and domestic policy. And Azerbaijan responds by saying, ‘Get lost!’ I am not sure how well the Iranians will understand this idiom but I think they will get the idea,” says member of the Milli Majlis Rasim Musabekov.
According to him, the Iranian aircraft flying near Azerbaijani borders pursued military purposes.
“When a military aircraft approaches the borders of a country, the air defense radars get activated. This aircraft was basically on a reconnaissance flight in order to detect the activated radars and air defense systems of Azerbaijan. I think the Azerbaijani military is aware of this as well, and they would hardly fall for Iran’s military provocations. But I think this kind of military flights and provocative exercises near our borders are a serious reason for Azerbaijan to intensify talks with the United States,” the expert said.
Musabekov added that Azerbaijan receives technical support from the United States to defend our borders, and these actions by Iran give us grounds for appropriate talks with the United States to further strengthen our southern border, especially the new section of it that we have taken under control after driving out the Armenian troops.
“Such moves on the part of Iran should be strongly resisted by Azerbaijan, and this is what is being done. Any hope that we can be forced to make decisions under the pressure of the Iranian mullahcracy is futile,” he said.
The MP believes that in response to these actions of Tehran, Azerbaijan will build up its military capacity and strengthen ties with states that are capable of helping Baku to adequately repel Iran’s unlawful claims.
The MP also believes that Azerbaijan will not appeal to the UN Security Council, because all possible sanctions against Iran by the UN have already been applied.
“Well, we cannot expect any military action to be taken against Iran. So, I see no need for that yet. But the fact is that we need to consult with those countries that are wary of Iran’s hegemonic ambitions. This is, at the very least, Turkey, Pakistan, Israel. I think there will be some talk of that on their part, too. Raisi is to visit Turkey, and I think that President Erdoğan of our brotherly Turkey will explain some things to him, so that they do not flirt with aggression,” he stressed.
Commenting on the stories about Iran’s plans to send about 4,000 proxy forces to Karabakh, recently circulated in the Turkish press, the expert said that he doubts the authenticity of this information.
“I am skeptical about the information that Iran intends to send about 4,000 proxies to Karabakh. This would mean a downfall for Armenia. Because it has declared itself a country of Western values and at the same time it has military cooperation with Iran and Russia. This would be a complete failure for Armenia but this would not change the military balance. However, 4,000 troops could enter Iran, where the Azerbaijani population is waiting for direct support to rise up and overthrow this mullahcratic regime,” Musabekov summed up.
Nijat Hajiyev
Translated from Minval.az
