Iran dismisses Azerbaijan's concern over military drills, cites Israeli presence

Iran, on Tuesday, invoked its “sovereignty” to dismiss Azerbaijan’s concern over Iranian military exercises near ir 700 kilometer long mutual border. Speaking at a press conference, a spokesperson for Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry asserted that drills were a question of Iran's “sovereignty” and ded that  country will t tolerate “presence of zionist regime near its international borders.” Indirectly accusing its versary of intrusion, Saeed Khatibzeh furr said that Tehran will take all measures it deems necessary to safeguard “national security.” 

Earlier this week, Islamic Republic conducted “surprising” military drills on ir shared border, eventually attracting ire from Azeri President. “Every country can carry out any military drill on its own territory. It’s ir sovereign right. But why w, and why on our border?” he said in an interview with Turkish news ncy Anolu highlighting that drills were first since independence of Azerbaijan 30 years ago. 

Regional alliances

Diplomatic relations between Iran and Azerbaijan were established in 1990s. However, Azerbaijan being secular n-muslim state shares close ties wth Israel -- regional versary of Iran. Last year, Baku bought high gre weapons from zionists, leing to a diplomatic flareup between Israel and Armenia. ditionally, Israel and Iran have been at loggerhes for deces and ir apparent support to conflicting parties in Caucasus region has only exacerbated ir rivalry. 

6,500 lives lost during Azerbaijan-Armenia's 44 day war

conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan commenced in September last year and soon escalated in what experts labelled as a “regional war.” As attacks and ambushes escalated, it drew involvement from Turkey and Russia. dispute claimed over 6,500 lives, mostly civilians from warring sides, before a Russia brokered peace pact, led to Armenia ceding areas it h controlled for deces.

However, peace was short-lived and in May, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of crossing its sourn boundaries. Since n, tensions have escalated with both countries reporting occasional shootouts along ir shared border. Pertaining to same, EU Council chief called on w dormant Minsk group to “assume its responsibilities” and “dress different topics.”

(Representative Im: AP)