Iran Warns Azerbaijan of Exploiting Third Parties to Threaten Its Security

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan (EPA)
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan (EPA)
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Iran Warns Azerbaijan of Exploiting Third Parties to Threaten Its Security

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan (EPA)
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan (EPA)

Iran affirmed its "good" relations with Azerbaijan, despite Tehran's accusation that the military maneuvers on the border are being used to launch Israeli activity, which Baku denies.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry warned Azerbaijan against allowing "third parties" to act against it, saying it knows "how to maintain its security."

Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that Armenia shares Iran's concern about the alleged Israeli presence in Azerbaijan.

Amirabdollahian said at a joint press conference in Tehran with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan that "we are witnessing the presence of foreign terrorists and the destructive activities of the Zionist regime in the region."

In a press conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the Armenian foreign minister's visit to Tehran was pre-scheduled to expand bilateral relations.

The spokesman said his country enjoys good relations with both Baku and Yerevan, and its relations with one nation are not against another, according to a report by the Iranian news agency (IRNA).

Khatibzadeh was asked about "the presence of terrorists" in Azerbaijan near the Iranian border. He indicated that Iran had received reports on this issue since the war between Baku and Yerevan.

"We have informed our friends in Baku, and they asserted during the various meetings that there is no threat to other countries."

Turkey brought "Syrian mercenaries" from northern Syria to Azerbaijan to help fight against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year.

Khatibzadeh noted that Tehran informed Baku from the beginning that it recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and national sovereignty, and it helped preserve it.

Baku should not allow its borders and country to be used by third parties against Iran, asserted the spokesman.

"Iran knows how to maintain its security, and it is only right that Baku fulfills its sovereign duties," said Khatibzadeh about allegations that the Israelis used Azerbaijan's territory to conduct activities inside Iran.

Khatibzadeh addressed the joint Turkish-Azerbaijani drills in Nakhchivan, saying everyone must help bring peace, stability, and calm to this region.

"Unfortunately, many military maneuvers have been conducted in this region without any justification during the past weeks."

Turkey and Azerbaijan launched their joint military maneuvers days after Iran started similar drills near its border.

Turkish Defense Ministry spokeswoman Pinar Kara said the "Steadfast Brotherhood-2021" drill would occur in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, between 5-8 October.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan rejected allegations of foreign intervention in its affairs, saying it pursues an independent policy based on national interests.

"We do not accept the allegations about the presence of any third forces near the Azerbaijan-Iran border … these views have no basis," Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva said.

She emphasized the importance of "friendly and good-neighborly relations with neighboring countries."

Abdullayeva stressed that Azerbaijan supports the establishment of relations with all countries based on respect for each other's international borders, which is the unchanging position of the country.

She recalled that Azerbaijan has suffered for decades from the military occupation of part of its territory and the violation of its international borders.

The spokesperson stressed that the inviolability of internationally recognized borders is one of the fundamental principles Azerbaijan has always been guided by.



Speculation Grows That Austrian Far Right Leader Herbert Kickl Will Be Asked to Form Govt

A horse-drawn cart passes the Federal Chancellery during the Austrian People's Party (OeVP) meeting, in Vienna, Austria, 05 January 2025. (EPA)
A horse-drawn cart passes the Federal Chancellery during the Austrian People's Party (OeVP) meeting, in Vienna, Austria, 05 January 2025. (EPA)
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Speculation Grows That Austrian Far Right Leader Herbert Kickl Will Be Asked to Form Govt

A horse-drawn cart passes the Federal Chancellery during the Austrian People's Party (OeVP) meeting, in Vienna, Austria, 05 January 2025. (EPA)
A horse-drawn cart passes the Federal Chancellery during the Austrian People's Party (OeVP) meeting, in Vienna, Austria, 05 January 2025. (EPA)

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Sunday announced that he would meet with far-right politician Herbert Kickl as speculation grows that he will ask the Freedom Party leader to form a government.

Van der Bellen made the announcement after meeting with Chancellor Karl Nehammer and others at his presidential palace. Nehammer has announced his intention to resign after coalition talks between his conservative Austrian People's Party and the center-left Social Democrats collapsed over the budget.

Nehammer has ruled out working with Kickl, but others within his party are less adamant. Earlier Sunday, the People's Party nominated its general secretary, Christian Stocker, as interim leader, but the president said Nehammer would remain chancellor for now.

Van der Bellen said that he had spent several hours talking to key officials, after which he got the impression that “the voices within the People's Party who exclude working with the Freedom Party under its leader Herbert Kickl have become quieter.”

The president said that this development has “potentially opened a new path," which has prompted him to invite Kickl for a meeting on Monday morning.

Kickl's Freedom Party topped the polls in the autumn's national election with 29.2% of the vote, but Van der Bellen tasked Nehammer with putting together a new government because no other party was willing to work with Kickl.

That decision drew heavy criticism from the Freedom Party and its supporters, with Kickl saying that it was “not right and not logical” that he did not get a mandate to form a government.

Stocker addressed reporters on Sunday afternoon and confirmed that he had been appointed “unanimously” by his party to serve as interim leader. “I am very honored and happy,” he said.

He also welcomed the decision by the president to meet with Kickl and said that he now expects that the leader of the party that emerged as the clear winner from the last election would be tasked with forming a government.

“If we are invited to negotiations to form a government, we will accept this invitation,” Stocker added.

In the past, Stocker has criticized Kickl, calling him a “security risk” for the country.

In its election program titled “Fortress Austria,” the Freedom Party calls for “remigration of uninvited foreigners,” for achieving a more “homogeneous” nation by tightly controlling borders and suspending the right to asylum via an emergency law.

The Freedom Party also calls for an end to sanctions against Russia, is highly critical of Western military aid to Ukraine and wants to bow out of the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defense project launched by Germany. The Freedom Party has also signed a friendship agreement in 2016 with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party that it now claims has expired.

Kickl has criticized “elites” in Brussels and called for some powers to be brought back from the European Union to Austria.

Austria was thrown into political turmoil on Friday after the liberal party Neos pulled out of coalition talks with the People's Party and the Social Democrats.  

On Saturday the two remaining parties, who have only a one-seat majority in Parliament, made another attempt to form a government — but that also ended in failure after a few hours, with negotiators saying they were unable to agree on how to repair the budget deficit.