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Azerbaijan Says Israeli Arms To Be Used Against Karabakh

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  • Azerbaijan Says Israeli Arms To Be Used Against Karabakh

    AZERBAIJAN SAYS ISRAELI ARMS TO BE USED AGAINST KARABAKH

    ASBAREZ
    Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

    An Israeli Hermes-450 drone

    TEHRAN, BAKU, TEL AVIV (Combined Sources)-Azerbaijan's Ambassador to
    Iran said a $1.6 billion arms deal with Israel, which was announced
    Sunday, was made "to liberate occupied Azerbaijani land," Iranian
    news agencies reported Tuesday.

    The Azeri ambassador, Javanshir Akhundov, acknowledged the arms
    purchase after getting confirmation from his government when Iran
    challenged Azerbaijan on the reported arms deal, reported Agence
    France Presse. Akhundov acknowledged that the weapons would be used
    on the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which Baku contends is "occupying"
    Azeri territory.

    Akhundov was called in to the foreign ministry to explain the weapons
    and to receive a warning that Israel must not be permitted to use
    Azerbaijan to stage "terrorist acts" against Iran.

    The Iranian agencies quoted Akhundov saying that Baku "will not
    allow the weapons to be used against third nations, in particular
    the Islamic Republic of Iran."

    Israel Inks $1.6 Billion Arms Deal With Azerbaijan Israeli defense
    officials on Sunday confirmed $1.6 billion in deals to sell drones
    as well as anti-aircraft and missile defense systems to Azerbaijan,
    bringing sophisticated Israeli technology to the doorstep of archenemy
    Iran, reported the Associated Press.

    Tel Aviv said the deal between the Azeri government and the Israeli
    state-run Israel Aerospace Industries is not linked to Iran's nuclear
    development program or Iran's alleged involvement in plots to Israeli
    diplomats in Azerbaijan, India and Georgia.

    Reporting on the story for Eurasianet.org Joshua Kucera wrote that
    "regardless of the ongoing ratcheting up of tension between Israel and
    Iran, and increasing attention to Israel's intelligence activities in
    Azerbaijan, these weapons are destined to be used not against Iran,"
    but against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

    In September Karabakh armed forces downed an Israeli-made Azeri drone

    In September, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Armed forces shot down
    an Israeli-made unmanned drone flying over Karabakh airspace, near
    the village of Vazgenashen in the Martuni region.

    Israel and Azerbaijan have been developing their military alliance
    in recent years, culminating in a decision in September to develop
    drones and other military hardware in Azerbaijan using Israeli
    defense technology.

    "Israel is a valuable arms partner for Azerbaijan not because of
    anything related to Iran. Rather, Azerbaijan has a lot of money, and
    Israel has top-quality defense manufacturers. And Baku is restricted
    in what it can buy from the U.S. because of opposition by pro-Armenia
    members of Congress, plus the U.S.'s general desire not to inflame
    the situation in Karabakh. And it's limited in what it can buy from
    Russia because of Russia's alliance with Armenia (occasional missile
    defense sales notwithstanding). Israel has no such concerns," said
    Kucera in his report for Eurasianet.org.

    The AP reported Tuesday that Israeli officials have said they will
    not warn the US if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against
    Iranian nuclear facilities. The pronouncement, delivered in a series
    of private, top-level conversations with US officials, sets a tense
    tone ahead of meetings in the coming days at the White House and
    in Congress.

    Israeli officials said that if they eventually decide a strike is
    necessary, they would keep the Americans in the dark to decrease the
    likelihood that the US would be held responsible for failing to stop
    Israel's potential attack, said one US intelligence official familiar
    with the discussions. The US has been working with the Israelis for
    months to convince them that an attack would be only a temporary
    setback to Iran's nuclear program.

    Israeli defense officials confirmed that there are no plans to
    alert the US ahead of time about any operation against Iran, though
    they stressed no decisions have been made on whether to attack. The
    officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing
    a confidential security matter.

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