عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Azerbaijan Appoints First Ever Ambassador to Israel amid Iran Row 

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)
TT
20
TT

Azerbaijan Appoints First Ever Ambassador to Israel amid Iran Row 

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)

Azerbaijan appointed its first ever ambassador to Israel on Wednesday amid escalating tensions with its large southern neighbor Iran. 

President Ilham Aliyev signed a presidential decree appointing Mukhtar Mammadov, a veteran official who has held posts in the foreign and education ministries, as Baku's first envoy to Israel after 30 years of bilateral relations. 

Israel has had an embassy in Baku since the early 1990s and has been a significant military backer of Azerbaijan in recent years, including diplomatic support for Baku in its standoff with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. 

Azerbaijan also supplies around 40% of Israel's oil imports and both Aliyev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have hailed strong relations between their countries. 

Amid escalating tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran over Baku's close relations with Israel, the Azeri parliament last November passed a law paving the way for the country to open its first embassy in Israel. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian last year accused Israel of establishing a military presence and secret alliance with Azerbaijan. 

Baku rejected the claims, but Iran mounted large-scale military exercises along the border with Azerbaijan and Aliyev responded by posing for photographs with Israeli kamikaze drones, which are manufactured in Azerbaijan. 

Azerbaijan's embassy will be located in Tel Aviv, where the majority of foreign delegations are. 

Most Viewed

 
World

Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
TT
20
TT

Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran will react to any reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, without elaborating on what actions Tehran might take.

A French diplomatic source told Reuters last week that European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called "snapback mechanism" if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests.

The "snapback mechanism" is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.

"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference, without giving further details.

The 2015 deal with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - states that if the parties cannot resolve accusations of "significant non-performance" by Iran, the "snapback mechanism" process can be triggered by the 15-member UN Security Council.

"The European parties, who are constantly trying to use this possibility as a tool, have themselves committed gross and fundamental violations of their obligations under the JCPOA," Baghaei said.

"They have failed to fulfill the duties they had undertaken under the JCPOA, so they have no legal or moral standing to resort to this mechanism."

Western countries accuse Iran of plotting to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.

The United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 under the first administration of President Donald Trump, who called the agreement "weak".

Trump, whose second presidency began in January, has urged Tehran to return to nuclear negotiations on a new deal after a ceasefire was reached last month that ended a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel that destabilized the Middle East.

When asked if Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, Baghaei said no date or location had been set for resuming the US-Iran nuclear talks.