Azerbaijan Closes Its Embassy In Iran After Recent Gun Attack

Azerbaijan closes its embassy in Tehran as tensions spiral after a gunman stormed the diplomatic mission, killing the security chief and wounding two other guards https://t.co/hry6GZb5PX

— Bloomberg (@business) January 30, 2023

Reuters: Azerbaijan to evacuate embassy in Iran on Sunday after fatal shooting 

BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan will evacuate embassy staff and family members from Iran on Sunday, the foreign ministry said, two days after a gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people in an attack Baku branded an "act of terrorism". 

Police in Tehran have said they had arrested a suspect and Iranian authorities condemned Friday's incident, but said the gunman appeared to have had a personal, not a political, motive. 

The incident came amid increased tensions between the neighbouring countries over Iran's treatment of its large ethnic Azeri minority and over Azerbaijan's decision this month to appoint its first ever ambassador to Israel.  

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Update: Azerbaijan Evacuating Embassy In Iran Following Armed Attack (Iran International)  

WNU Editor: Iran says this attack should not impact Iranian - Azerbaijan relations .... Iran says embassy attack should not affect Azerbaijan relations (Al Jazeera).

Iran Holds Large Scale Military Exercises On Its Border With Azerbaijan

OilPrice.com: Iran Is Conducting “Massive” Military Drills On The Azerbaijan Border 

Iran’s military is conducting large-scale military drills on its border with Azerbaijan, including practicing crossings of the Aras River, which defines a large part of the border between the two states. The exercises, called “Mighty Iran,” began on October 17. The exact location has not been specified, but Iranian media placed them in between Iran’s provinces of Ardabil and East Azerbaijan, the part of Iran across the Aras from Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli region. One expert on open-source intelligence, however, analyzed photos of the pontoon crossing and placed it across from Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan.  

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WNU Editor: Iran is sending a message to Azerbaijan .... Iran does not accept any change in Caucasus borders (Tehran Times).

 Iran Holds Large Scale Military Exercises On Its Border With Azerbaijan  

Iran holds drills on border with Azerbaijan -- Jerusalem Post  

Iran starts large-scale military training on the border with Azerbaijan -- News 360  

Iran holds a large-scale drill in its northwest regions -- Press TV  

Iran Holds Military Exercises on Border Amid Tensions With Azerbaijan -- VOA

Is Israel Launching Operations Against Iran From Azerbaijan?

 

 The Algemeiner/JNS: Iranian Expert: Israel Has Been Launching Operations Against Iran From Azerbaijan 

JNS.org – Iranian international affairs journalist and political analyst Mostafa Khoshcheshm claimed in an Oct. 2 interview on Iranian Ofogh TV that Israel is collaborating with Turkey to attack Iran through Azerbaijan, and that many Israeli “terror” operations against Iran were launched from there. 

According to the report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Khoshcheshm said the alleged Israeli operations included assassinations and the 2018 operation where Mossad agents stole thousands of documents from Iran’s nuclear archives.  

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WNU Editor: Iran has a total of 5,894 km (3,662 mi) land borders with 13 countries (link here). Israeli agents can cross in many places, Azerbaijan included.

Iran Believes Azerbaijan Is Hosting Israeli Troops

Iranian army tanks during a military exercise in northwest of the country, close to the Iranian Azerbaijani border, on 1 October 2021 (Iranian Army office/AFP)  

Middle East Eye: Azerbaijan rejects Iran's claim it is hosting a secret Israeli military force 

Tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran are running high over allegations of Israeli military presence, with more military drills planned Azerbaijan on Monday denied Iranian allegations of an Israeli military presence on its soil, as Tehran conducted large-scale army drills along its border with its Caucusus neighbour. 

Iranian state television on Friday showed footage of tanks, helicopters, artillery and soldiers being deployed in an unspecified area northwest of the country. 

Last month Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan conducted military drills in Baku, prompting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to deploy troops and equipment along its northern border.  

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WNU Editor: Azerbaijan is denying these claims .... Azerbaijan denies Iranian allegations of Israeli military presence during drills (Times of Israel).

Border Tensions Grow Between Iran And Azerbaijan

Jerusalem Post: Tensions grow with Azerbaijan as Iran moves forces to border 

Tensions spiked between Azerbaijan and Iran recently surrounding trade with Armenia and military exercises in the region. 

Tensions spiked between Azerbaijan and Iran in recent weeks after Azerbaijan began targeting Iranian trucks with fines and arrests, and Iran moved military forces to its border with Azerbaijan and warned against Israeli influence near its borders. 

In August, the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry invited the Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, due to "undesirable facts" concerning what it called illegal travel of Iranian trucks to the Karabakh region without the permission of Azerbaijan. 

A statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that the new Iranian administration would take steps to end such incidents. 

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 More News On Growing Border Tensions Between Iran And Azerbaijan  

Iran’s army to hold drill near tense border with Azerbaijan -- Arab News/AP 

Iran to Begin Military Exercises Linked to Rivalry With Israel -- Bloomberg  

Iran holds war games near Azerbaijani border -- Eurasianet

IRGC Issues Veiled Warning to Azerbaijan, Says Tehran Won’t Tolerate Israeli Presence Near Borders -- Sputnik  

What is going on between Iran and Azerbaijan? -- Middle East Monitor  

Iran and Azerbaijan on the verge of war? -- Global Village

Will Azerbaijan Permit Israel To Launch An Attack On Iran From Their Country

Will An Israeli Strike On Iran Come From Azerbaijan? -- Michael Moran, Global Post

The standoff between Iran, Israel and the United States over Tehran's nuclear weapons ambitions has drawn in another player: Azerbaijan.

According to intelligence officials, Iran's security services have concluded that Azerbaijan, its Muslim neighbor to the north, has been enlisted by Israel in a campaign of cyber attacks, assassinations and detailed military planning aimed at destabilizing and ultimately destroying Tehran's nuclear research program.

That Iranian perspective, described by a range of current and former US intelligence officials who asked that their names remain confidential, has led to a crackdown on Iran's sizeable ethnic Azeri minority and the launch of an Iranian counter espionage offensive to destabilize the government of President Ilham Aliev. Ethnic Azeris are Iran's largest minority group, comprising about 16 percent of the population, mostly clustered along the northern border and in Tehran.

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My Comment: Will Azerbaijan go to war against Iran to accommodate Israel .... no.

The Deteriorating Relations Between Iran And Azerbaijan

Iran And Azerbaijan, Already Wary Neighbors, Find Even Less To Agree On -- New York Times

BILASUVAR, Azerbaijan — The perennially tense relationship between Azerbaijan and Iran, wary neighbors on the Caspian Sea, has deteriorated in recent weeks amid deep unease in Tehran over expanding military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel.

A vital border crossing here has been shut for days at a time, stranding long lines of trucks. Not far away, Iranian warships maneuver in the Caspian Sea. Last week, a senior aide to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was refused entry at the airport in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital. Ambassadors on each side have returned home.

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My Comment: The big beef is Iran's support for Armenia .... a source of tension for Azerbaijan since the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh.