“We are very vigilant about geopolitical issues and we have explicitly told the Republic of Azerbaijan that the Islamic Republic of Iran is closely following these movements and any change in regional borders is not acceptable to us,” Hossein Amirabdollahian Iranian foreign minister said on national TV on Saturday evening.
Iran has in recent days stepped up warnings about insecurity along its northwestern border with the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Israeli efforts to destabilize the area. Iran’s Army Ground Force held military drills aimed at assessing the armed forces’ preparedness to defend the borders.
The top Iranian diplomat said Iran’s military drills were carried out in response to the actions of Zionists and terrorists in the region.
Amirabdollahian explained that bilateral ties between Tehran and Baku have been expanding, but after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its liberation, which was diplomatically supported by Iran, some terrorist groups were moved to this area.
“The Zionist regime tried to make the most of this opportunity, and during the unsuccessful attempt of these terrorist groups to approach the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Zionists entered parts of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” he noted.
“We will never tolerate the presence of elements of the fake Zionist regime near and on Iran’s borders and we will not tolerate their provocations,” Amirabdollahian stated.
“The fact is that foreign actors, Zionists and terrorists, who are seeking to destabilize the region, are behind these movements. We will do our utmost to ensure that Azerbaijan, which is a good neighbor of Iran, does not fall into this trap to become a hotbed of Zionists and terrorists,” the top Iranian diplomat said.
Amirabdollahian also touched on the problems facing Iranian truck drivers who carry goods from Iran to Armenia through the newly-liberated Karabakh region.
He said Iran must be informed about any new restrictions and taxes on Iranian commercial trucks through diplomatic channels.
