Baku rules out presence of third forces on Iran-Azerbaijan border

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Baku has dismissed as unfounded allegations that third forces are located near the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, the Foreign Ministry said on October 4.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva made the remarks to comment on Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

"First of all, we would like to emphasize that, as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian said in an interview with a local television channel, relations between the two peoples are at the highest level... We would like to note the following regarding some of the views expressed during the interview. We do not accept the allegations about the presence of any third forces near the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, the provocative attempts of these forces because these views have no grounds," Abdullayeva said.

She reiterated that relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are based on strong historical ties, friendship, and cooperation. She ruled out any threat to Azerbaijan and its neighbors.

"In general, the existence of any forces on the territory of Azerbaijan, including terrorist elements, that could pose a threat to our state or neighboring countries, can not even be discussed. Unfortunately, during the 44-day war, some parties made such claims completely baselessly. We stated then, and we reiterate now, that such allegations are baseless and no evidence has been presented to the Azerbaijani side so far," Abdullayeva said.

The spokesperson stressed that the inviolability of internationally recognized borders is one of the fundamental principles that Azerbaijan has always been guided by.

She recalled that Azerbaijan has suffered for decades from the military occupation of part of its territory and the violation of its international borders.

"More than 130km of our border with Iran have been under Armenian occupation for many years. Unfortunately, over the years, we have not heard such a strong reaction from a friendly Iranian state to the occupation of part of our border," Abdullayeva said.

The spokesperson stressed that Azerbaijan supports the establishment of relations with all countries on the basis of respect for each other's international borders, which is the unchanging position of the country.

She recalled that Azerbaijan also expressed its readiness to normalize ties with Armenia on the basis of fundamental international law and start talks on the delimitation of borders.

"The process of delimitation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian borders is a bilateral issue and the recent positive signals from the other side give hope for a constructive development of the process," Abdullayeva noted.

As far as external forces are concerned, Azerbaijan has always led an independent foreign policy based on its national interests and proved this with its specific steps repeatedly during 30 years, she added.

"The development of friendly and good-neighborly relations with neighboring countries is one of the main priorities of our foreign policy, and we are taking continuous steps in this direction," the spokesperson underlined.

Abdullayeva noted that Azerbaijan is very sensitive to the issue of Islamic solidarity and, as is well known, is distinguished by its active position in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 

"Over the past decades, our country has focused on the destruction, looting, and insult of the heritage of Islamic history and culture on the territory of Azerbaijan, and we appreciate the OIC member states' support for our just position in this matter," she said.

"We consider that ending the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, the cessation of Armenia's illegal activities in that region, as well as the large-scale stockpiling of weapons, illegal economic and other activities, drug trafficking, recruitment of terrorists, the insult of the ?slamic religious and cultural monuments and the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their ancestral lands after the 30-year longing, the maintenance of regional stability and security, should be the circumstance that meets the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Abdullayeva concluded.