DANGEROUS "GAME OF TENSION"

The events of the second half of May have clearly shown that, despite Baku's efforts to prevent a further deterioration in Iranian-Azerbaijani relations, the mullahcratic regime in Tehran continues the dangerous "game of tension". Not content with endless expressions of discontent about Azerbaijan's relations with the United States and Israel and unfounded accusations of aiding the activities of the intelligence agencies of these countries against Iran, mullahcracy proceeded to organize provocations and exert direct pressure on Azerbaijan.

As a far-fetched pretext, they chose the holding of Eurovision-2012 in Baku. The event was declared by Iranian mullahs as anti-Islamic, and in order to ignite the negative imagination of its own conservative population, it was falsely announced that a "gay parade" would be held during the competition.

That Eurovision is just an excuse is clear from the fact that Azerbaijan is not the only Muslim country that has hosted the competition. A few years ago, it took place in Turkey, but Iran chose not to notice the event and kept silent. However, in the case of Azerbaijan, the whole Iranian political and propaganda machine was set in motion. Several protest rallies were organized outside the Azerbaijani consulate in Tabriz, where insults to the Azerbaijan Republic and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev were made. In response, a protest was held outside the Iranian embassy in Baku where participants demonstrated posters with slogans critical of the mullahcratic regime and its leaders, including Ahmadinejad and Ali Khamenei.

But things did not end here. Displaying extreme displeasure, Tehran recalled its ambassador for consultations and presented a protest note to Azerbaijan over an alleged "insult to Islamic sanctities during a rally in Baku". Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi interpreted the situation and his country's position in an original way, saying that Azerbaijan is not only a neighbour, but also the second Shia state in the world and that for the Shias of the world, borders do not matter and therefore, if there are problems, religious authorities can voice their opinions, and the Azerbaijani authorities should treat this carefully. He called for the rallies and calls made against Iran's spiritual leader to be assessed and prevented in the future.

In fact, it is exactly Iran's claim to interfere in the internal affairs of our country under the guise of religion, which is not compatible with the sovereignty of Azerbaijan. For a foreign minister, it is unforgivable to mix religion and the state. If for Iran, which is officially an Islamic state, it is normal, Azerbaijan, as a country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population, is a secular state according to the constitution. In addition, Ali Akbar Salehi's statement about the dominance of Shiism in our country is a big exaggeration. According to numerous opinion polls, about half the population of Azerbaijan do not identify themselves as Sunnis or Shias and call themselves simply Muslims, and only a third of adherents of Islam consider themselves Shias. And among them, not everyone recognizes the spiritual leader of the Iranian Shias as an unquestionable religious authority.

And the Iranian mullahs' absurd accusations of "Zionism and aiding American imperialism" against Azerbaijani government officials and politicians are totally unacceptable. The ideologically sophisticated functionaries of Iranian mullahcracy stick this label literally to everything incomprehensible that does not fit into their primitive and backward notions of the world and the developments taking place in it. For Iranian citizens, an accusation of "Zionism" is a terrible stigma, threatening with the torture chambers of the political police at best and death at worst. How to react to all this is the business of Iranian citizens, but to publicly insult and humiliate representatives and especially the leaders of neighbouring countries is incompatible with the norms of civilized international relations and entails appropriate action sooner or later. Those who try to read sermons about "Islamic solidarity and respect for Islamic values" should understand that when they are pronounced by people who receive with open arms and in a friendly manner Serzh Sargsyan and Seyran Ohanyan who have the blood of thousands of Muslims Karabakhis on their hands and who ordered the destruction of dozens of mosques and desecration of Muslim cemeteries in Azerbaijan, their words are perceived with scepticism and great distrust.

Therefore, Tehran should not be surprised that our Foreign Ministry rejected the Iranian note and put forward a counter-claim through Speaker Elman Abdullayev: Iran must apologize for the harsh statements of Iranian officials against Azerbaijan. Developing this theme, the head of the public-political department of the Presidential Administration, Ali Hasanov, said: "We respect the Iranian clergy. But unfortunately, in the recent period some of their representatives are making calls and voicing slogans that are an example of disrespect for Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani statehood, its constitutional order, the people and the president of Azerbaijan. We are waiting for Iran's response to these calls. We expect Iranian official circles to make statements condemning anti-Azerbaijani calls and deal with such cases, which have a negative impact on relations between the two countries. Of course, we do not support most of the calls that were heard during the picket in front of the Iranian embassy, and in addition, we will express an appropriate attitude to them."

The Iranian authorities decided not to limit themselves to diplomatic notes and a war of words, and resorted to measures of economic and even military pressure. On 22 May, they blocked the border to trucks and cars from Azerbaijan entering Iranian territory through the Culfa checkpoint in Naxcivan and the Bilasuvar customs checkpoint. This was done without warning, and as a result, a large number of cars had accumulated on the border. However, the awareness that Baku may introduce counter restrictions on Iranian transit through Azerbaijan prompted the Iranian authorities to limit themselves to a show of strength and to resume the transit of Azerbaijani transport through their territory.

The Azerbaijani public and government are strongly concerned about the detention and the uncertainty of the fate of young poets Farid Huseyn and Shahriyar Hacizada, who were in Iran for personal reasons. Official Iranian authorities are not responding to requests from our consular service and are not confirming or denying the arrest of the Azerbaijani citizens. At a joint news conference with the press secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Elman Abdullayev, on 21 May, Ali Hasanov called Iran's actions shameful. "Every day, hundreds of people cross the border in both directions, it is wrong to see a spy in each of them. This is contrary to good neighbourly relations. It is especially troubling that Tehran does not give any information about the place where the citizens of Azerbaijan are held," he said.

At the same press conference, Ali Hasanov, speaking about the position of Azerbaijan, said that we have built partnerships with Israel, Georgia, the United States, Russia and Iran. However, he said, "Iran wants Azerbaijan to be friends only with its friends and enemies with its enemies. They openly want this from us. They also want us to sever ties with Israel and the United States and demand that we engage in an anti-Western campaign. We have built our foreign policy from the very beginning in such a way that a friend of Iran cannot automatically be our friend and its enemy - our enemy. And we build our relations with Iran and other states based on our own national interests." Ali Hasanov reiterated Azerbaijan's principled position that the territory, borders and policies of our country cannot be used either against Iran or against Israel, the US and the West in general.

The assurances that Azerbaijan has provided in this regard do not seem credible to the Iranian regime. They are overwhelmed by phobias about acts of sabotage allegedly organized using the territory of Azerbaijan. They seem to have decided to ensure, if not the severance of relations, then at least minimum contacts between Iranians and Azerbaijanis on both sides of the border. It is possible that Tehran is intentionally fuelling tensions in bilateral relations to make Azerbaijan feel threatened and go under Russia's "security umbrella". This, in their view, is a lesser evil - as it will prevent the growth of US, NATO and Israeli influence in the region even at the cost of the return of the Russian military presence as is the case in Tajikistan.

In any case, Tehran's calculations are wrong and manoeuvres of its warships near the border with Azerbaijan will have no effect of deterrence. First, Azerbaijan has enough combat-ready armed forces to repel a military provocation no matter where it comes from. Second, Azerbaijan has an agreement on strategic partnership and mutual assistance with brotherly Turkey, Article 2 of which states that "if one side is exposed to an armed attack or aggression by a third state or a group of states, the parties will provide mutual assistance using all the possibilities." To dispel any doubt about the implementation of this treaty, it has been announced that four commanders of all the armed forces of Turkey will soon visit Azerbaijan. By the way, during the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the region in early June, the Iranian agenda will certainly occupy an important place.

The Eurovision Song Contest, as a formal pretext and irritant in Iranian-Azerbaijani relations, is now behind. We hope that the Iranian authorities will have enough discretion not to deepen the rift between Tehran and Baku. The presence of rational approaches in the Iranian establishment is proven by the congratulatory letter on the national holiday - the Republic Day, which President Mahmud Ahmadinejad sent to President Ilham Aliyev.

The letter reads: "Emphasizing fraternal relations between the two nations, as well as my sincere attitude to Your Excellency, I think that the development of relations expanding with each passing day in the interests of the peoples of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Azerbaijan Republic, as well as reliance on good-neighbourly relations and bilateral obligations between Azerbaijan and Iran will prevent enemy tricks. I hope that through the efforts of responsible persons of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Azerbaijan Republic, we will witness further strengthening of the existing cooperation between our countries in all spheres at bilateral and international levels, as well as the establishment of a lasting peace and security and the elimination of oppression and discrimination. I ask Almighty Allah to give good health and success to Your Excellency and happiness and prosperity to the friendly and brotherly people of the Azerbaijan Republic."

We would like to hope that there is a positive shift in our bilateral relations, as well as in resolving the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme. This will benefit both Iran itself and the whole region.