Iran's Army Holds Drill Near Tense Border with Azerbaijan

Iranian military commanders stand at the border with Azerbaijan during the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year. Photo: Iranian TV
Iranian military commanders stand at the border with Azerbaijan during the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year. Photo: Iranian TV
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Iran's Army Holds Drill Near Tense Border with Azerbaijan

Iranian military commanders stand at the border with Azerbaijan during the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year. Photo: Iranian TV
Iranian military commanders stand at the border with Azerbaijan during the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year. Photo: Iranian TV

Iran’s national army began exercises on Friday near its border with Azerbaijan, state TV reported, putting on a display of military capabilities near a neighbor it is increasingly skeptical of for its ties to the West and Israel.

The commander of the Iranian army's ground forces, Gen. Kioumars Heidari, said Thursday the drill would test weapons, assess the combat readiness of troops and demonstrate the country's military capabilities. It would involve drones, attack helicopters, tanks and artillery.

The state-run IRNA new agency's report did not specify the exact area the exercise would cover. But the drill is bound to put Iranian troops and weapons close to the tense border with Azerbaijan — a prospect that has already raised alarm in the ex-Soviet Caspian Sea nation.

Earlier this week, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he was stunned by the planned drill in an interview with Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

"Every country can carry out any military drill on its own territory. It’s their sovereign right. But why now, and why on our border?” he said, noting it was the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union that Iran was intending to stage such a show of force so close to its border.

Iran long has been skeptical of Azerbaijan over its ties to the West and deep military cooperation with Israel.

Azerbaijan and Israel have strengthened their military alliance in recent months, with Israeli-supplied high-tech drones helping to tilt the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Baku’s favor last year.

Iran's foreign ministry drew a direct connection between the country's military drill and Azerbaijan's ties to Israel in remarks earlier this week.

“It’s clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not tolerate the presence of the Zionist regime, even demonstratively, near its borders and in this regard it will take any action it deems necessary for its national security,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency.

The tensions with Azerbaijan have also complicated a vital border passage that trucks use to ferry fuel and other goods from Iran to Armenia. Azerbaijani authorities have detained two Iranian truck drivers in recent weeks for trying to take the route, angering Iran, The Associated Press reported.

The drill comes as the region remains on edge over Iran's escalating nuclear program. Talks in Vienna to revive Tehran's now-tattered 2015 accord with world powers stalled since June, with no date set for their resumption.



Kremlin: Putin Not Ruling Out Talks with Ukraine, but Wants Guarantees

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
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Kremlin: Putin Not Ruling Out Talks with Ukraine, but Wants Guarantees

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ruling out talks with Ukraine, but guarantees will be needed to ensure the credibility of any negotiations, Russian news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Sunday.

More than 90 countries took part in a two-day event at the Buergenstock resort in central Switzerland aimed at uniting global opinion on how to end Moscow's 27-month-old invasion.
Russia was not invited to those talks.

Kyiv's positions have been taken into consideration in the final communique for the summit, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday.

"The text is balanced, all of our principled positions on which Ukraine had insisted have been considered," he told reporters.

Kuleba also hinted that Russia could be involved in a future summit but dismissed Putin's demand on Friday that Kyiv cede four regions of Ukraine that Russia has occupied and drop its goal of joining NATO.