“Azerbaijan Republic frees detained Iranian truck drivers”

The Republic of Azerbaijan has reportedly released two Iranian truck drivers it detained in September, suggesting the bordering countries are trying to reduce tensions and avoid a possible conflict over critical transit routes and the Zionist regime’s presence in the region.

Iran’s Fars News Agency quoted a western news outlet as saying the release happened a day after Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov spoke over the phone in the first direct effort to address tensions that began escalating two weeks ago.

Iran blames the tensions on the Israeli regime’s presence in the Azerbaijan Republic, saying the issue poses a threat to the Islamic Republic’s national security.

In response to the threat, Iran conducted military drills near the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan. The drills drew criticism from Baku, which denies the presence of the Israeli regime in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Iran’s trade ties with Armenia also emerged as a flashpoint after Azerbaijan began imposing a road tax on Iranian trucks that use a critical trade corridor to ship goods to the Armenian capital.

That’s the Goris-to-Kapan highway. Azeri forces detained the two Iranian truck drivers on the highway.

During Tuesday call, Amir Abdollahian urged Bayramov to ease the transit of Iranian trucks and release the two Iranian truck drivers.

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