Iran Concerned by Israel’s Drones in Azerbaijan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Amirabdollahian before their meeting in Moscow (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Amirabdollahian before their meeting in Moscow (AFP)
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Iran Concerned by Israel’s Drones in Azerbaijan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Amirabdollahian before their meeting in Moscow (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Amirabdollahian before their meeting in Moscow (AFP)

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said his country does not accept "geopolitical changes" in the Caucasus.

He made his remarks during talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

The American researcher and writer from The National Interest, Trevor Filseth, said that “while the comments were offered without reference to any nation, they were presumably directed at Azerbaijan, Iran’s northwestern neighbor, which has cooperated on defense issues with Israel, to Iran’s consternation.”

"We certainly will not tolerate geopolitical change and map change in the Caucasus, and we have serious concerns about the presence of terrorists and Zionists in this region," Amirabdollahian said during a press conference.

Filseth added, “Azerbaijan and Iran have long had a difficult relationship. In 1945, the Soviet Union sought to promote a secessionist uprising by ethnic Azeris in northwestern Iran, where they have long maintained a demographic majority.

“While the uprising was crushed the following year after Moscow withdrew its support, Iran has long feared Baku’s influence on Iranian Azeris, leading it to build closer relations with Armenia.”

“Iran maintained neutrality during the six-week war from September to November 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Both countries claim the Nagorno-Karabakh region, known in Armenia as “Artsakh,” which was part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era but maintained a majority-Armenian population and sought to join Armenia following the Soviet collapse,” he stated.

Filseth went on saying that “while Armenia won the first war in 1994, Azerbaijan decisively won the 2020 rematch—largely owing to the influence of Israeli military technology, including drones. While Azerbaijan’s consequential victory led military planners to study its outcome for lessons, Iran quickly raised concerns about Baku’s use of Israeli weaponry.”

Bloomberg revealed that Israel “supplies Azerbaijan with drones and other high-tech weapons that helped Baku tip the military balance in its favor in last year’s war with Armenia.”

The past weeks saw tension in other fields. Azerbaijan continued its controls and imposed a “road tax” on Iranian trucks moving through its territory. In the process, some Iranian lorry drivers were detained.

“The drills carried out by our country in the northwest border areas are a question of sovereignty,” the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on the ministry website.

Tehran “will take all measures it judges necessary for its national security”, he said, adding, “Iran will not tolerate the presence of the Zionist regime near our borders.”

As Turkey's efforts to ensure border security against irregular migration and smuggling activities continue, the 20-kilometer section of the security wall in the Caldiran district of the eastern province of Van, on the Iranian border, has been completed.

Van Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez told Anadolu Agency that "175 kilometers of trenches have been dug. A 64-kilometer wall is being built in three stages. The installation of the 20-kilometer wall has now been completed. The stone used in the 34-kilometer wall has been produced.”



No Way to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant at Present, IAEA Chief Says

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
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No Way to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant at Present, IAEA Chief Says

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)

Conditions for restarting Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant do not exist at present due to a lack of water for cooling and the absence of a stable power supply, the head of the UN's nuclear safety watchdog said on Tuesday.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in an interview in Kyiv that water would have to be pumped from the Dnipro River for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently shut down, to restart.

The facility, in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, was occupied by Russia in March 2022, shortly after it launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Grossi said the Russians had "never hidden the fact" that they want to restart the plant, but they would not be able to do so soon.

"We are not in a situation of imminent restart of the plant. Far from that, it would take quite some time before that can be done," Grossi said.

The IAEA chief added that the plant's machinery, which has not been operating for three years, would have to be thoroughly inspected before any restart.

Ukraine has said that an attempt by Russian technicians to restart the plant would be dangerous because they are not certified to operate the Zaporizhzhia plant.

Grossi said Russian nuclear staff were capable of conducting a restart, and that the issue of certification was a political rather than technical one.

Ukraine has also protested at the IAEA's monitoring mission to the plant accessing it via Russian-occupied territory.

Grossi said this was to protect the safety of his staff, and that at present he does not have the necessary guarantees from the Russian side to safely transit IAEA staff through the frontlines to Ukraine-controlled territory, as had been done several times before.