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After President Ilham Aliyev's interview with Azerbaijani TV channels, people in different parts of the world are offended and outraged. If you count the number of those who were offended by Baku for telling the truth, a crowd will gather. They were offended in the European Union, they were offended in Armenia, they were offended in France and they were very offended in Iran. Although each of the offended parties has no moral right to be offended. Instead, it is necessary to analyze the words of the Azerbaijani leader, draw conclusions and try to correct the situation.
Take Iran, for example.
The day before, Mehr published an extensive exculpatory article, which proves that the Iranian side does not want to analyze and draw conclusions.
It should be recalled that, answering journalists' questions, President Ilham Aliyev noted that the provincial mullah, who insulted the Azerbaijani and Turkish peoples, as well as the leaders of our two countries, at an event on December 29 in Ardabili, should be punished. The head of state stated that this is not the first time this mullah has insulted Azerbaijan.
"The question is, how does the person who appointed him to this position feel about this. He didn't take this position voluntarily. We know very well who appoints him. What is his reaction, whether he supports it or not, who will apologize to Azerbaijan? Will he apologize or not? The feeling of regret expressed in the statement of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not enough. There was a clear insult here, both to the presidents of Turkiye and Azerbaijan, and to our peoples, and at an official live event. And just regret? This is, of course, unacceptable. Therefore, we believe that this provincial mullah should be punished. At the very least, he should be removed from his post and he should apologize to Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani President stressed.
The Iranian edition tried to refute what was said. This task is very difficult, so it turned out to be funny. First, the authors of the article presented Hassan Ameli, the representative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Ardabil province, as an "ordinary and unofficial person." It is claimed that it was not this high-ranking official who insulted the Azerbaijanis and Turks, but someone unknown, no one, a "fool's ass", and in Iran they were surprised, they did not expect, and all that. However, the event was broadcast live, and the President of Azerbaijan never talks about what he doesn't know. Therefore, the arguments of the Iranian side do not look serious. It is well known that Turkophobia is being propagated in Iran with the active participation of religious figures. And if Ayatollah Khamenei's representative does not know how to control his language, his superiors should take action. Otherwise, such situations arise that do not add advantages to an already difficult relationship.
By the way, judging by the publication in a semi-official government publication, the Iranian side has its own opinion on whose fault these bilateral relations are in a bad state today. They fundamentally disagree with the accusations against Tehran. According to the Iranian version, Azerbaijan itself is to blame, as well as the ubiquitous "Zionists". Who would doubt it...
And now let's see who actually destroyed the generally good relations between the two countries. And in general, they were not bad only thanks to Baku's patience and diplomacy, because for almost all the years since independence, the Iranian side has given rise to distrust and confrontation.
Let's start from the end. The attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran became the apogee of the undercover anti-Azerbaijani policy. On January 27, 2023, an armed terrorist entered the Azerbaijani Embassy located in Tehran, opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle at the staff of the diplomatic mission and killed the head of the security service. Two more embassy security officers were injured while repelling the attack. This incident has been studied inside and out and it does not require any further investigation. Two years are coming, as the investigation is underway, and the terrorist has not yet been punished, although it was previously reported that his case was completed. Despite the fact that the attacker was associated with the IRGC, and all the circumstances in which the terrorist attack was committed indicate his organization and preparedness, the Iranian side continues to mumble about some kind of "personal motives" of the criminal.
It is worth quoting from an article that undoubtedly expresses the position of official circles: "Aliyev, once again recalling this event (the terrorist attack against the embassy - ed.), calls the attack on the embassy in Baku "terrorist" in order to create tension between the two countries for unknown and suspicious reasons; at the same time, according to international norms such issues can be resolved at lower levels and do not require to be brought to an official and high level."
Seriously? Do international norms prescribe to resolve issues of terrorist acts and armed attacks on diplomatic missions of other countries at "lower levels"?
The attack on the embassy was the culmination, and in general, relations teetered on the brink of problems during all the years of the Armenian occupation, when the Iranian side tacitly supported the occupiers, collaborated with the separatists, and also participated (not at the official level, of course) in the looting of the territories occupied by Armenia. During the 44-day war, weapons for Armenia, which Georgia did not allow through, were delivered through Iranian territory. Moreover, the Iranian armed forces tried to hinder the liberation advance of the Azerbaijani army, and this has been proven. After the war, Iranian trucks continued their illegal trips to Karabakh, which is under the control of the RMK, delivering dubious goods to the separatists. When Azerbaijan stopped this outrage, discontent flowed from the Iranian side, accusations and aggressive statements began. Iran has conducted several provocative exercises on the border with Azerbaijan, defiantly practicing crossing the Araz River.
These were outright provocations, but Baku did not succumb to them. After a while, when relations began to improve again, a terrorist attack broke out against the embassy. Attempts by the Iranian side to present everything as a domestic incident have caused outrage in Azerbaijan. The silly versions put forward by the Iranian security forces showed that Iran does not intend to get to the truth. Despite the fact that there were dead and wounded. This is not simple hooliganism, this is not throwing stones at the embassy windows.
In Iran, nothing can be answered to such arguments. All they can do is take offense at the truth and present the machinations of the "Zionists" and the mythical "Israeli bases" as a counterargument. Myths about "Israeli bases" were created to maintain the degree of hatred towards Azerbaijan in Iranian society. The Iranian propaganda justifies every puncture in bilateral relations, every failed provocation by the "Zionists." We can only say one thing to this: if you find at least one foreign base on the territory of Azerbaijan, we will apologize as a whole country. Yes, no Zionists need to make efforts to destroy relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, because Iran itself is doing everything possible for this.
The last sentence of the article is particularly interesting. "The irony is that Azerbaijan believes it is able to blame Iran for the current situation!"
The irony is that the Iranian propaganda does not take into account a lot of circumstances in this very current situation. And Baku, believe me, is able to call a spade a spade.