Iran warns in Hebrew of 'foreign influence' amid Azerbaijan tensions

• Author: TZVI JOFFRE
• Published date: 03 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

>

"Powerful #Iran has always been benevolent to its neighbors & never posed a threat to them," wrote Shamkhani on Twitter. "Problems will be resolved with the cooperation of all countries in region. Any foreign influence is fruitless so we call on neighbors to be vigilant in this regard & to stay away from them."

The statement comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan, 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.

Iranian trucks were fined and at least two were arrested as they traveled on a road between the Armenian towns of Kapan and Goris which partially crosses through territory handed over to Azerbaijan after the Nagorno-Karabakh war last year, according to RFE/RL. The highway, patrolled by Russian peacekeepers, is Armenia's only link to Iran.

Tensions also rose recently due to joint military exercises carried out by Azerbaijan and Turkey in the Caspian Sea, with the Iranian Foreign Ministry warning that such drills violated international conventions banning the military presence of countries other than the five states which border the sea.

On Friday, Iran launched the "Conquerors of Khaybar" in northwestern Iran near the border with Azerbaijan. Kioumars Heydari, commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces, stated that the exercise was being conducted in order to test weapons and equipment and assess the readiness of the armed forces in any arena and along the borders of Iran, according to the Fars News Agency.

The name of the exercise, "Conquerors of Khaybar," may be a reference to the Battle of Khaybar, in which the Muslims, led by Muhammad, fought against the Jews in Khaybar, eventually defeating and imposing a tax on them.

Iranian officials have stressed that the exercise is meant to "send a message" to Israel and ISIS, warning that Iran will take any action necessary to defend its borders.

In the interview with the Turkish Anadolu Agency on Tuesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed shock at Iran's decision to hold a military exercise along its border, saying it was the first time in Azerbaijan's 30-year history of independence that this had occurred.

While Aliyev admitted that every country has the sovereign right to conduct military...