Iran's former VP sees no problem in Iranian-Azerbaijani relations

Former Iranian Vice President Hassan Ghafouri Fard believes that there are no problems in relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.

Answering journalists' questions on Friday, to confirm his words Fard said that 30 percent of Iran's population speak Azeri.

"We have a common history and religion, and many Azerbaijanis are represented in the Iranian leadership," Fard said. He stressed that Iran's spiritual leader is Azeri by origin.

"For this reason, there is no problem among us. Azerbaijan and Iran are fraternal states," he said.

Speaking about the Iranian-Armenian and Iranian-Azerbaijani relations, Fard said that today, the Iranian-Azerbaijani relations are much stronger than the Iranian-Armenian relations.

Recently, the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations have deteriorated.

It all started with rumors that a group of foreigners was going to organize a gay parade in Baku during Eurovision. This was followed by a wave of anti-Azerbaijani statements in neighboring Iran, with calls to ban the parade and not to hold the contest, which allegedly contradicts Islamic values.

Despite the fact that Baku has repeatedly stated that it will not allow the holding of such event in Baku, the anti-Azerbaijani campaign in Iran has not stopped, protest rallies were held in front of the consulate of Azerbaijan in Tabriz.

In response similar actions to stop anti-Azerbaijani campaign were held in Baku in front of the Iranian diplomatic mission.

The situation further exacerbated after two Azerbaijani citizens got lost in Iran. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has already sent three notes to Iran's Foreign Ministry demanding to clarify the situation with the missing compatriots.


/Trend/