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THE WASHINGTON TIMES: "IRAN HAS STAUNCHLY SUPPORTED ARMENIA'S CONQUEST OF UNDISPUTED AZERBAIJANI TERRITORY"
APA
Jan 9 2012
Azerbaijan
"Tehran fears that Azerbaijan may seek to exploit the ethnic grievances
of Iranian Azerbaijanis in northwestern Iran and detach the area
from Iran"
Baku. Habil Suleymanzadeh - APA. "Iran has staunchly supported
Armenia's conquest of undisputed Azerbaijani territory in the
Nagorno-Karabakh crisis to the point that Armenia regularly votes
against sanctions on Iran in the United Nations", said The Washington
Times in an article by Stephen Blank. "In 2001, Iran shot up an
Azerbaijani oil-exploration platform in the Caspian Sea. Apart from
blocking the legal resolution of that sea's status, Iran regularly
threatens Azerbaijan with invasion and other unspecified military
action if it supports a U.S. base in its country and because of its
close ties with Israel".
"More recently, Iranian incitement is clearly behind the
anti-government campaign by religiously inclined Shiites, who are
protesting the government's "anti-religious" policies", said Stephen
Blank. "In fact, Iran has been threatening Azerbaijan for more than
a decade", he added.
"But the most overt displays of Iranian power and threats have been
employed against neighboring Azerbaijan, not least because Tehran
suspects Baku of being pro-American and pro-Israeli, but also because
it fears that Azerbaijan may seek to exploit the ethnic grievances
of Iranian Azerbaijanis in northwestern Iran and detach the area from
Iran with great power support. This is not a groundless fear, as the
Soviet Union sought to do so in 1920-21 and 1945-46. Nevertheless,
this fear of the Azerbaijani minority is more a pretext for Iran's
current threats against Azerbaijan than a rational basis for Iranian
policy. Iran's real fear is Azerbaijan's support for the United
States and Israel and its apprehension that Azerbaijan might become
a platform for a U.S. operation against it", said Blank.
APA
Jan 9 2012
Azerbaijan
"Tehran fears that Azerbaijan may seek to exploit the ethnic grievances
of Iranian Azerbaijanis in northwestern Iran and detach the area
from Iran"
Baku. Habil Suleymanzadeh - APA. "Iran has staunchly supported
Armenia's conquest of undisputed Azerbaijani territory in the
Nagorno-Karabakh crisis to the point that Armenia regularly votes
against sanctions on Iran in the United Nations", said The Washington
Times in an article by Stephen Blank. "In 2001, Iran shot up an
Azerbaijani oil-exploration platform in the Caspian Sea. Apart from
blocking the legal resolution of that sea's status, Iran regularly
threatens Azerbaijan with invasion and other unspecified military
action if it supports a U.S. base in its country and because of its
close ties with Israel".
"More recently, Iranian incitement is clearly behind the
anti-government campaign by religiously inclined Shiites, who are
protesting the government's "anti-religious" policies", said Stephen
Blank. "In fact, Iran has been threatening Azerbaijan for more than
a decade", he added.
"But the most overt displays of Iranian power and threats have been
employed against neighboring Azerbaijan, not least because Tehran
suspects Baku of being pro-American and pro-Israeli, but also because
it fears that Azerbaijan may seek to exploit the ethnic grievances
of Iranian Azerbaijanis in northwestern Iran and detach the area from
Iran with great power support. This is not a groundless fear, as the
Soviet Union sought to do so in 1920-21 and 1945-46. Nevertheless,
this fear of the Azerbaijani minority is more a pretext for Iran's
current threats against Azerbaijan than a rational basis for Iranian
policy. Iran's real fear is Azerbaijan's support for the United
States and Israel and its apprehension that Azerbaijan might become
a platform for a U.S. operation against it", said Blank.