Features of the Iranian "gratitude"

On March 4, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Baku and expressed condolences over the death of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and many civilians. The head of state left an entry in the funeral book. In a conversation with the Iranian ambassador, he said that he would always remember his meetings with Khamenei during his visits to Iran, which left the best impressions.

The Azerbaijani leader was courteous, sincere and tried to convey that Azerbaijan sympathizes with the losses of its neighbor and stands by the Iranian people in their grief.

Less than a day later, Azerbaijan received a "thank you" from Iran. The Iranian "gratitude" arrived in Nakhchivan. In the truest sense of the word. Four drones launched from the Iranian side struck the territory. The terminal of Nakhchivan airport was hit, and one fell near a school in the village of Shakyarabad. Videos have spread on social networks showing the effects of the strikes, including the destruction of the airport building, and four civilians were reported injured. Due to the threat, a number of educational institutions were evacuated - Nakhchivan International Cambridge School and Nakhchivan Institute of Teachers, as well as some kindergartens located nearby.

From the message of the Ministry of Defense: "It has been established by technical means that four unmanned aerial vehicles sent by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran were launched towards the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan to carry out attacks. One of them was neutralized by the Azerbaijani Army, while others targeted civilian infrastructure facilities, including a secondary school building during training sessions. The drone aimed at the school, fortunately, did not reach its target, fell and exploded near the building of the educational institution."

I would really like to think that this is an accident. Although one drone could be called an accident. And what should I call it when there are four of them? Especially when the strike is directed not at a random address, but at the airport. Airports are considered strategic facilities and are always among the primary targets for destruction during wars and conflicts. Therefore, there is already a clear feeling that our ungrateful neighbor has declared war on Azerbaijan in this way. Hopefully that's not the case, but...

Azerbaijan has always been a conscientious neighbor. The President has repeatedly stated that under no circumstances will our country become a springboard for attacks on Iran, not a single plane or drone will ever take off from the territory of our republic, not a single missile aimed at a neighbor will be launched. Baku will never allow any kind of intelligence or other sabotage activities against the Islamic Republic. And he kept his word with iron and tried to help, despite the many problems that existed in the relationship.

On Thursday, a meeting of the Security Council was held with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev. The head of state called the incident a terrorist act and said that just on the morning of March 5 he learned that the Iranian had asked for help in evacuating the Iranian embassy from Lebanon. The diplomatic mission itself did not have any opportunities for this. "I immediately gave the order to provide assistance, to send the plane. They even said we were willing to pay for it. I said it's not necessary, if we don't provide help now, at this difficult time, then when should we provide it?" - said the President.

Against this background, reports of strikes on Nakhchivan, of course, could not but cause an explosion of indignation, and one can understand the head of state calling the actions of the Iranian side an example of great ingratitude, vile, cowardly and shameless.

Our southern neighbor cannot boast of many friends (if any), but he has enough enemies, and everyone would like to take advantage of the advantages that Azerbaijan's involvement in anti-Iranian actions could provide. But Azerbaijan did not allow itself to be turned into a participant in anti-Iranian campaigns, maintaining neutrality in all situations. Our countries and our peoples have historically been neighbors, we have many points of contact, and there is a multimillion-strong Azerbaijani community in Iran. And most importantly, Azerbaijan has always strived and strives for good neighborliness. A vivid example of this is the peace process with Armenia, which deserves a completely different treatment for its crimes. Baku is a peacemaker and a creator, it is ready to make concessions and turn a blind eye to any friction, which it has always done in relations with the Iranian regime. Even the outrageous terrorist attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, organized with the participation of Iranian special services, did not lead to the breakdown of relations. Baku tried to balance the diplomatic background and prevent hostility from flaring up. Despite the fact that it was not the best period in relations between the two countries, Iran provoked its northern neighbor to confrontation as best it could, flexed its muscles, rattled its weapons, tried to set Azerbaijan against the Islamic world, create a split and radicalize Azerbaijani society. One can hardly forget the statements from Tehran that "Iranians and Armenians are one people living in different countries." Yes, there was such a thing.

All this happened, and few countries would have been able to maintain a good-neighborly attitude in such a situation. In theory, it should have disappeared back in 2020, when, during the advance of the liberation Army of Azerbaijan in the Jabrayil direction, our military stumbled upon Iranian units illegally introduced into the territory of sovereign Azerbaijan. Iran actually tried to prevent the liberation of Azerbaijani territories. This fact became known to the public much later, only a couple of years later. Why? Because Baku did not want the stupidity and short-sightedness of the Iranian security forces to be projected onto the entire Iranian people and lead to hostility in Azerbaijani society. Baku has always wanted peace, not hostility.

However, the mullahs' regime did not understand Baku's good intentions. Over the years, this regime has demonstrated that it is not capable of conducting an adequate policy. The results of such a "strategy" are being experienced by the Iranian people today.

Let's recall how many times American, Israeli bases, some radars disguised as solar panels, and so on have been "discovered" on the territory of Azerbaijan. There was no limit to the fantasy of the Iranian propaganda. As the President said at the Security Council meeting, all this was supposed to discredit Azerbaijan and change the opinion of our compatriots living in Iran. The reason is that in Tehran, according to Ilham Aliyev, "they know perfectly well that today the independent Azerbaijani state is a place of hope for many Azerbaijanis living in Iran." This is a very powerful message that will undoubtedly be heard.

The Head of State stressed once again: "Azerbaijan does not participate and will not participate in operations against Iran either then or now. Because this is our position. We are not interested in conducting any operations against neighboring countries, and our policy does not allow this. We protect and have defended our territorial integrity. Just as we put an end to the Armenian occupation, we are ready to show our strength against any evil force, and Iran should not forget about this. This terrorist act that they committed, along with all the other heinous factors, is an example of great ingratitude."

Unlike the regime of the mullahs, Azerbaijan has never been a hypocrite, never held a stone in its bosom and did not try to stab its neighbor in the back. Baku has always been honest. The rumors spread by the Iranian media and social media about the alleged presence of military infrastructure of countries hostile to Iran on the territory of Azerbaijan are pure fake, and the Iranian security circles know this even better than we do. They will try to justify the attack on Nakhchivan with the same fakes. Although is it possible to justify outright terror against the civilian population (and the airport is a purely civilian facility)?

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi gave a short comment to the Iranian media about the attack on Nakhchivan. He stated that Iran is not targeting neighboring countries, and promised that the incident would be investigated. Well, let's wait. This investigation should not only identify the provocateurs, but also show how much the country's central authorities control its armed forces.

I would like to return to the terrorist attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in January 2023. At a meeting of the Security Council, President Ilham Aliyev focused on those events and stressed that the terrorist attack was ordered from the very heights of power, as evidenced by the fact that in the 40 minutes during which the events took place, not a single security or police officer appeared at the diplomatic mission. Which in itself, you must admit, is nonsense. I remember that for a long time the official structures of Iran tried to expose the terrorist attack as a "domestic conflict", allegedly the revenge of some "real man" for his wife who was hiding in the diplomatic mission. It was so crazy that Azerbaijan did not even consider it necessary to comment on such versions, but strongly demanded that Tehran conduct a thorough investigation and punish those responsible. The punishment of a terrorist linked to the country's special services lasted for two years - the sentence was carried out only after the change of power in Iran.

All these facts do not adorn the face of our southern neighbor.

The March 5 attack on Nakhchivan airport was hardly accidental, even if the official authorities had nothing to do with it. Iran knows perfectly well that the only way to connect the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with the main part of Azerbaijan is by air. By destroying the airport, the mullahocrats are effectively depriving NAR of communication with Baku, isolating it and making it, as it seems to them, easy prey. There was something like that before... When? Oh, yes, in the early 90s of the last century, when Armenia, seeking to occupy Nakhchivan, cut off its communication routes and put it under blockade. As you can see, the mullocrats liked these technologies so much that they decided to use them today. But it hasn't been the early 90s for a long time.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan stated that the Ministry of Defense is preparing the necessary retaliatory measures to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country, as well as to ensure the safety of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. All responsibility lies with the Iranian side, and these attacks will not go unanswered, the statement said.

Concluding his speech at the meeting of the Security Council, President Ilham Aliyev said: "The people of Azerbaijan must be sure that any evil force will see our iron fist against itself."

The southern neighbor should take this statement seriously. We are sure that Ankara's warning was taken as seriously as in Tehran after the same "accidental" flight into Turkish territory. Our southern neighbor is very fond of talking about the "threat" of the Turkic factor and Turan. If he is so careless that he decides to expand the circle of his enemies at the expense of Azerbaijan and Turkey, he will have to learn in practice what the Turkic factor is.

It would be better for the Iranian side if Baku and Ankara remain in a neutral position, and Iran's law enforcement agencies should make every effort to ensure that nothing else "accidentally" flies into our territory from there.