Iran, Azerbaijan Exchange Accusations over an Israeli Proposal

Azerbaijani soldiers patrolling Agdam after it was recovered from Armenia in November 2020 (AP)
Azerbaijani soldiers patrolling Agdam after it was recovered from Armenia in November 2020 (AP)
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Iran, Azerbaijan Exchange Accusations over an Israeli Proposal

Azerbaijani soldiers patrolling Agdam after it was recovered from Armenia in November 2020 (AP)
Azerbaijani soldiers patrolling Agdam after it was recovered from Armenia in November 2020 (AP)

The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's statements regarding the agreement with his Azerbaijani counterpart on "forming a united front" against Tehran.

Iranian Al-Alam TV quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani as saying that Tehran sees the statements of the Israeli and Azeri foreign ministers as an "implicit affirmation of cooperation between the two anti-Iran sides," and demanded an explanation from the Azeri authorities in this regard.

Kanani said that these remarks show "sinister intentions" of Israel to turn the territory of Azerbaijan "into a national security threat" for Iran.

Azerbaijan quickly responded to the Iranian threats, saying Tehran would "never intimidate" Baku, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry warned that the Iranian statement is the next step toward the crisis in the relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, adding that the Iranian-Armenian rapprochement "remains a threat to the entire region."

"Over the past 30 years, Iran has, with its tacit consent, turned a blind eye to Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani territories over the past 30 years."

The Azeri Ministry stated that Iran ignored the occupation of Karabakh and East Zangazur and plundering these territories, the sale of stones demolished from houses in these territories in Iranian markets, and the destruction and destruction and desecration of 65 of the existing 67 mosques.

The statement concluded that despite the military support sent from Iranian territory to Armenia, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan destroyed the occupying Armed Forces of Armenia in 2020.

Last Wednesday, Azerbaijan opened an embassy in Israel in the presence of the two countries' foreign ministers.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran were also tense after an attack on the Baku embassy in Tehran last January.

On Thursday, Cohen said he had discussed with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides blacklisting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

In a tweet about the meeting, he said they discussed boosting regional alliance and joint efforts to combat terrorism "in light of the Iranian attack on Israelis and Jews in Greece that was thwarted" last week.

Cohen said earlier Thursday that he discussed with his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos what he called the battle against the terrorist regime in Tehran that threatens regional stability.

He indicated that the Iranian regime "threatens both our regions, finances terrorism, and destabilizes the entire Middle East," adding that he asked the foreign ministers of Greece and Cyprus to move to declare the IRGC a terrorist organization in the EU.

On Thursday, Azerbaijan denounced the "defamatory" statements by a top Iranian military commander in the latest indication of strained relations between the two neighbors.

The Ministry of Defense said that Iranian Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Kioumars Haidari said that ISIS terrorists fought for Azerbaijan and were still present in the country.

The Ministry said that Haidari made vile defamatory, and slanderous statements regarding Azerbaijan, saying they were "unfounded and completely unacceptable."

In January, Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran following a "terror attack" that killed the embassy's security chief.

Baku is also not satisfied with signs of improvement in relations between Iran and Armenia after the 2020 war against Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The Iranian side had never made compromising statements about Armenia," read the statement, adding: "the Iranian-Armenian brotherhood strengthened during this period. It is obvious that in the world, there are two main allies of Armenia, one of which is France, and the other is Iran."



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.