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  • BAKU: FM Visit to Israel Sparks New Wave of Tensions with Iran

    Azerbaijani Foreign Minister's Visit to Israel Sparks New Wave of
    Tensions with Iran

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 10 Issue: 99
    May 24, 2013 02:44 PM
    By: Anar Valiyev


    Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov meeting with Prime
    Minister Shimon Peres, April 22 (Source: Flash90)

    On April 21-24, Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar
    Mammadyarov visited Israel. This was the first visit of a high-ranking
    official of Azerbaijan to this country since Baku became independent.
    During his trip, Mammadyarov held several meetings with the Israeli
    leadership, including President Shimon Peres, the Prime Minister and
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Benjamin Netanyahu, the President of the
    Knesset Yuli Edelstein and several others. During their meeting,
    President Peres said Foreign Minister Mammadyarov's visit was
    `historic' and promoted `good relations' between Azerbaijan and the
    Israeli regime. Referring to Azerbaijan's `unique geographic
    location,' Peres said Israel considered Azerbaijan an important ally
    (Zerkalo, April 23).

    Bilateral cooperation is developing fast. Israel continues to purchase
    Azerbaijani oil, which constitutes around 30 percent of its
    consumption, while Azerbaijan buys Israeli military technologies. In
    2012, information was leaked to the press that Azerbaijan and Israel
    concluded an agreement on a $1.6 billion arms deal (see EDM, March 7,
    2012). Azerbaijan, however, does not have an embassy in Israel, and
    Mammadyarov was cautious about commenting on the sensitive issue of
    opening one there. `Everything has its time. Negotiations are going
    on; we will see how they will end,' he simply said (News.az, April
    26).

    He also could not avoid the Palestinian topic, stressing that
    Azerbaijan has always supported and will continue to support
    Palestine. Foreign Minister Mammadyarov said that Baku would host a
    conference on assistance to the Palestinian people in June (News.az,
    April 26). The Palestinian issue was important and crucial for the
    minister's visit since ignoring it would have deteriorated
    Azerbaijan's ties with the Muslim world and with the Organization of
    Islamic Cooperation (OIC), specifically.

    Ahead of Mammadyarov's visit to Israel, Elman Abdullayev, a
    spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tried to
    present the foreign minister's trip as routine. `Being a member of the
    [United Nations] Security Council, Azerbaijan closely observes and
    cannot stay indifferent to the processes ongoing in the Middle East.
    We are interested in the reduction of tension in the region. It is too
    early to say whether the Iran issue will be discussed during the visit
    or not. Azerbaijan has always supported the Palestinian people and
    provided humanitarian aid to them. We want the Middle East conflict to
    be solved by taking into account the interests of both sides,'
    Abdullayev concluded (APA, April 19).

    But some political analysts in Baku evaluated Mammadyarov's Israeli
    visit differently. Vafa Guluzade, a former advisor on foreign policy
    to the government, stated that the visit to Israel was to pursue
    domestic policy goals, rather than to achieve any major foreign policy
    breakthroughs. In his view, on the eve of the presidential election,
    Azerbaijani authorities want to obtain support from Israel and its
    powerful lobby in the United States and the European Union.
    Furthermore, he stressed that close cooperation with Israel will not
    help Azerbaijan to solve the Karabakh conflict (Turan, April 24).

    Iran nervously watches the development of Azerbaijani-Israeli
    cooperation. In order to pacify Tehran, one week after Mammadyarov's
    trip to Israel, the head of the Azerbaijani presidential
    administration, Ramiz Mekhtiyev, visited Iran where he met with Saeed
    Jalili, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. The
    sides discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries
    (Zerkalo, April 29). Finally, Mekhtiyev met with Iranian President
    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the two sides discussed issues of mutual
    interest.

    Nevertheless, the gesture failed to completely mollify and reassure
    Iran. Right after Mekhtiyev's visit, Iranian authorities arrested
    Azerbaijani writer Khalida Khalid, who had been visiting the country,
    along with two Iranian human rights activist of Azerbaijani origin. Of
    those taken into custody, the individuals who held Iranian citizenship
    were eventually released while the case of the two Azerbaijani
    citizens - Khalid and her driver Shamhal Huseynov - will be considered by
    an Iranian court. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin
    Mehmanparast confirmed that Khalid and Huseynov are under the
    supervision of Iranian secret services, and their cases are being
    investigated. According to the Iranian official, Khalid and Huseynov
    had been monitored by the security forces for committing `unusual
    activities' and took action against them (Contact, May 7). The top
    Iranian diplomat in Baku, Ambassador Mohsen Pak Ayeen, echoed this
    explanation, arguing that the arrested Azerbaijani citizens had
    traveled to the country as tourists and were detained after breaking
    Iranian law. `Nobody is arrested in Iran without a reason. [Khalid]
    was a tourist and [broke] our laws,' he said (APA, May 8).

    In an effort to smooth over the continued tensions between the two
    countries, the head of the Caucasus Muslims Board, Sheikh-ul-Islam
    Haji Allahshukur Pashazade, visited Iran on May 18-20. He was
    accompanied by a large delegation of parliamentary members and
    religious leaders. Analysts expected that during his meetings with
    Iranian officials, Pashazade, a native Azerbaijani, would discuss the
    fate of the arrested writer (Echo, May 17). The religious leader met
    with top Iranian authorities, including President Ahmadinejad; the
    speaker of Iran's parliament, Ali Larijani; as well as Iran's supreme
    religious figure, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei. During his meetings,
    Sheikh Pashazade stressed the brotherly ties between Iran and
    Azerbaijan (APA, May 19, 20; News.az, May 20). As of May 23, Khalid
    and Huseynov had not yet been handed over to Azerbaijan, but the
    Iranian authorities have softened their stance somewhat by explaining
    that the two are no longer being held under arrest and that their
    tourist visas had simply `expired' (APA, May 23).

    Despite these modest steps toward resolving their bilateral tensions,
    it is hard to expect that Iranian authorities will easily `forgive'
    Azerbaijan for Foreign Minister Mammadyarov's visit to Israel last
    month. However, at this point, Tehran lacks the diplomatic tools to
    effectively pressure Baku from within. All pro-Iranian forces in
    Azerbaijan have been marginalized and hardly play any political role
    anymore. Thus, Iran will be forced to resort to outside pressure and
    will continue its provocations, such as the arrest of Khalida Khalid.

    http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=40927&tx_ttnews[backPid]=685&no_cache=1



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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