By Orkhan Sattarov, exclusively to VK
Baku and Tehran officials keep making statements implying that there are no serious problems in the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan and only a slight misunderstanding overshadows the states’ partnership. Nevertheless, the series of rows doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon.
The row surrounding the unsolved murder of Azerbaijani writer Rafik Tagi hasn’t quietened down yet, when notes of protest were exchanged after the scandal broke out. The $1.6 billion arms sale by Israel to Azerbaijan has seriously troubled Iran.
A certain relaxation came to the almost failing diplomatic relations after the trilateral meeting of the Azerbaijani, Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers in Nakhchivan. The foreign ministers signed a joint statement that pleased both Baku and Tehran. The former received at least a formal confirmation of support in its conflict with Armenia, while the latter was guaranteed that neither Turkish nor Azerbaijani territories would be used in any aggressive action against the Islamic Republic.
Addressing Iranian problems with Azerbaijan, the Republic’s Ambassador to Baku, Muhammedbagir Bahrami, told a press conference that "even in a family there may arise a misunderstanding" and stressed the brotherly nature of the two states' relations. The ambassador also emphasized the regional and global importance of the trilateral FMs meeting.
The positive effect of the Nakhchivan meeting was supposed to be consolidated by the Azeri Defense Minister’s trip to Tehran this week. And despite the general elevated atmosphere during his meetings with the Iranian President, FM and Defense Minister, there was still a blot on this landscape: a photo of the Azerbaijani flag hanging upside down during the meeting of the two states’ Defense Ministers was published by all Azeri media agencies. No one in Azerbaijan tends to see it as a mere mistake. The green stripe on the Flag stands for Azerbaijan’s belonging to the Muslim world, while the blue one is symbolic of Turkic solidarity. Everyone knows that Iran has a weakness towards artistic gestures and the tricolor hanging upside down was probably meant to hint that Azerbaijan should put the Islamic principle before that of Turkic solidarity or even before its national interests.
Incidents involving upside down flags have a long history in Iran: in 2005, during the visit of Ilham Aliyev to Iran, the Azeri flag was also hung upside down. Back then it caused a very harsh reaction among the Azeri public, and this reaction couldn’t pass unnoticed by the Iranian government. And now, 7 years after, history repeats itself. Iran is trying to communicate its message to the Azeri government in quite a disrespectful manner. It is certain that the Turkic self-identification of the majority of Azerbaijanis can’t be pleasing for Iran: Turkish influence in Azerbaijan is perceived as the main obstacle in the way of Shiah fundamentalism promoted in the country by Iran.
As has already been mentioned in previous articles, the deterioration in bilateral relations between Iran and Azerbaijan happened at a time when the international isolation of Iran is growing stronger due to Tehran’s nuclear program. Azerbaijan is a partner of the US and Israel in many spheres and that makes him one of the ‘minions of Zionism’ in the eyes of the Iranian leadership. The Azerbaijani President’s administration has once again assured Tehran that Azerbaijan would never let anyone use its territory in any kind of aggression against Iran. However, there is still the question of what actions Iran is ready to perceive as aggression.
While the Azeri Defense Minister was on his visit to Iran, the Azerbaijani Ministry of National Security made a statement claiming that it has uncovered and neutralized a whole network of Islamic Revolutionary Guard agents: 22 people are accused of espionage for the Corps. All those arrested are Azerbaijani citizens, and they were allegedly recruited by Iranian intelligence to keep surveillance on the main offices of the administration, as well as of foreign organizations in Azerbaijan (including the education organizations, "Soxnut", "BP-Azərbaycan" and "American Fast-food"). The agents provided the Corps with accurate information, and in its turn the Revolutionary Guard was preparing terrorist attacks against the managers of these organizations. The recruited agents were supposed to establish safehouses for storing weapons for these attacks. I would like to point out that the presence of "Soxnut” or "American Fast-food" corporations in Azerbaijan can in no way be perceived as ‘anti-Iranian aggression”.
It is obvious that Azerbaijan wouldn’t do anything to deteriorate its relations with Iran on purpose, not least because it is still in a state of conflict with Armenia and can’t afford another hostile state on its borders. And the destruction of the spy network is probably merely a way to demonstrate to Tehran that Baku expects it to ‘play by the rules’ and not to use Azeri territory in its terrorist war against the US and Israel. In other words, mutual respect is the basis of any relationship.
On the contrary, Iran, despite its peaceful rhetoric, continued to aggravate the situation by hanging the Azeri flag upside down. So it is obvious that the trilateral Nakhchivan meeting didn’t lead to full reconciliation between the three states – once again due to Iran’s position.
