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.”



Nearly 450,000 Afghans Left Iran since June 1, Says IOM

Afghans in their thousands have streamed over the border from Iran at the Islam Qala border point in Afghanistan's Herat province in recent weeks. Mohsen KARIMI / AFP
Afghans in their thousands have streamed over the border from Iran at the Islam Qala border point in Afghanistan's Herat province in recent weeks. Mohsen KARIMI / AFP
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Nearly 450,000 Afghans Left Iran since June 1, Says IOM

Afghans in their thousands have streamed over the border from Iran at the Islam Qala border point in Afghanistan's Herat province in recent weeks. Mohsen KARIMI / AFP
Afghans in their thousands have streamed over the border from Iran at the Islam Qala border point in Afghanistan's Herat province in recent weeks. Mohsen KARIMI / AFP

Nearly 450,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since the start of June, the UN's refugee agency said on Monday, after Tehran ordered those without documentation to leave by July 6.

The influx comes as the country is already struggling to integrate streams of Afghans who have returned under pressure from traditional migrant and refugee hosts Pakistan and Iran since 2023, said AFP.

The country is facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises after decades of war.

This year alone, more than 1.4 million people have "returned or been forced to return to Afghanistan", the United Nations refugees agency UNHCR said.

In late May, Iran ordered undocumented Afghans to leave the country by July 6, potentially impacting four million people out of the around six million Afghans Tehran says live in the country.

Numbers of people crossing the border surged from mid-June, with some days seeing around 40,000 people crossing, UN agencies have said.

From June 1 to July 5, 449,218 Afghans returned from Iran, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration told AFP on Monday, bringing the total this year to 906,326.

Many people crossing reported pressure from authorities or arrest and deportation, as well as losing already limited finances in the rush to leave quickly.

Massive foreign aid cuts have impacted the response to the crisis, with the UN, international non-governmental groups and Taliban officials calling for more funding to support the returnees.

The UN has warned the influx could destabilize the country already grappling with entrenched poverty, unemployment and climate change-related shocks and urged nations not to forcibly return Afghans.

"Forcing or pressuring Afghans to return risks further instability in the region, and onward movement towards Europe," the UN refugees agency UNHCR said in a statement on Friday.

Taliban officials have repeatedly called for Afghans to be given a "dignified" return.

Iranian media regularly reports mass arrests of "illegal" Afghans in various regions.

Iran's deputy interior minister Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian said on Thursday that while Afghans illegally in the country were "respected neighbors and brothers in faith", Iran's "capacities also have limits".

That the ministry's return process "will be implemented gradually", he said on state TV.

Many Afghans travelled to Iran to look for work, sending crucial funds back to their families in Afghanistan.

"If I can find a job here that covers our daily expenses, I'll stay here," returnee Ahmad Mohammadi told AFP on Saturday, as he waited for support in high winds and dust at the IOM-run reception center at the Islam Qala border point in western Herat province.

"But if that's not possible, we'll be forced to go to Iran again, or Pakistan, or some other country."