Top official: Azerbaijan hands over 21 prisoners to Iran

By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Iran's Deputy Minister of Justice for Human Rights and International Affairs, Fattah Ahmadi, has said that Azerbaijan extradited 21 prisoners to Iran, Trend reported.

The deputy minister mentioned that three of the extradited prisoners were women.

According to Ahmadi, the process of transferring prisoners was carried out in accordance with the extradition agreement between Iran and Azerbaijan.

"The majority of Iranian prisoners in Azerbaijan were convicted of drug trafficking," Ahmadi stated.

After liberating its lands from Armenian occupation during the 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed control of a 132-km section of the Azerbaijan-Iran border and blocked the drug trafficking route from Iran to Armenia and then to Europe that used to pass through the country's liberated Jabrayil.

Armenia used Karabakh and the surrounding seven regions for illegal activities such as arms and drug trafficking during its 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani territories.