Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Azerbaijan
Newsline: Baku’s envoy to France says French national held in Azerbaijan for suspected espionage
A French national has been detained in Azerbaijan suspected of espionage, Baku’s envoy to France said on Tuesday, the latest sign of deteriorating ties between the two countries. Leyla Abdoullayeva told Reuters the French citizen, Martin Ryan, was arrested on Dec. 4 on “suspicion of carrying out acts of espionage”. Abdoullayeva said legal authorities in Azerbaijan had ordered Ryan be initially held for four months and that the French embassy had been notified of the arrest. (https://neuters.de/world/french-national-held-azerbaijan-suspected-espionage-2024-01-09/) France’s foreign ministry did not immediately comment. Ties between Paris and Baku have been strained in recent months and have worsened since Baku took control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Baku on Dec. 26 expelled two French diplomats saying they were acting in a way that was “incompatible with their diplomatic status”. France’s foreign ministry, which denied the Azeri claims, the next day summoned Abdoullayeva and said it was expelling two Azeri diplomats in response.
Newsline: Iranian and Sudanese top diplomats discuss “resumption of ties”
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met the Sudanese foreign minister for the first time since diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed seven years ago, the official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday. “On the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement meeting, our delegation met with the Sudanese foreign minister and discussed how to imminently resume diplomatic ties between Khartoum and Tehran,” Amirabdollahian tweeted. “In this meeting, talks were directed at resolving misunderstandings between the two countries and strengthening the political and economic relations between Tehran and Khartoum,” IRNA said of the meeting in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. (https://neuters.de/world/iranian-sudanese-foreign-ministers-meet-azerbaijan-irna-2023-07-06/) Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 following the storming of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran. Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume ties in March under a deal negotiated by China, raising expectations that Tehran and other Arab countries would fully re-establish diplomatic relations.
Newsline: Azerbaijan expels four Iranian diplomats
Azerbaijan on Thursday said it was expelling four Iranian diplomats over “provocative actions” in the latest deterioration of relations between the neighbours, in part due to Baku’s improving relations with Tehran’s arch-enemy Israel. In a statement on Thursday, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Iran’s ambassador and expressed “strong dissatisfaction (with) the recent provocative actions demonstrated by his country in relation to Azerbaijan.” The ministry said it was declaring four Iranian diplomats persona non grata and had given them 48 hours to leave the country. (https://neuters.de/world/azerbaijan-expels-four-iranian-diplomats-provocative-actions-2023-04-06/) Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have grown increasingly strained in recent months, with the dispute coming to a head when Baku last week opened an embassy in Israel. Azerbaijan has also suggested that Iran may have been connected to an attempted assassination of an anti-Tehran Azerbaijani lawmaker a week ago. Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran in January after its head of security was killed in an attack, and last week opened the embassy in Israel. Iran, which has a large population of ethnic Azeris in its northwest, has attacked Azerbaijan for moving closer to Israel, with its foreign ministry saying it sees the fledging relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel as “anti-Iranian”.
Newsline: Embassy Attack Strains Iran-Azerbaijan Diplomatic Relations
The embassy attack led Azerbaijan to temporarily suspend its operations at its mission in Tehran and evacuate its staff from the country. A gunman stormed the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran on January 27, killing one guard and wounding two others. Iran said the attack was motivated by personal reasons, but Baku described it as a “terrorist attack.” Iranian media said the attacker, who was arrested, was an Iranian man married to an Azerbaijani woman. The attacker was quoted as saying that his wife disappeared after entering the Azerbaijani Embassy. (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/iran-azerbaijan-relations-under-stress-210000082.html) The incident has further strained relations between the neighbors, who have a history of tensions. Azerbaijan has long been suspicious of Iran’s ties with Armenia, Baku’s archenemy. Meanwhile, Tehran has increasingly expressed concern about Azerbaijan’s deepening relations with Israel, Tehran’s regional foe. Baku recently appointed its first-ever ambassador to Israel, which is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has also long complained of Iran’s alleged mistreatment of its sizable ethnic Azeri minority. Tehran has accused Baku of fomenting separatist sentiment in the Islamic republic.
Newsline: Azerbaijan evacuates embassy in Iran
Azerbaijan evacuates embassy staff and family members from Iran on Sunday, the foreign ministry said, two days after a gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people in an attack Baku branded an “act of terrorism”. After the attack, the Azeri foreign ministry said it summoned Iran’s ambassador in Baku to demand justice and would evacuate embassy staff from Tehran. It gave no further details, including whether the embassy would continue to function. Earlier, the ministry said the shooting was the result of Tehran failing to heed its calls for better security. (https://neuters.de/world/middle-east/azerbaijan-evacuate-embassy-iran-sunday-after-fatal-shooting-2023-01-29/) Police in Tehran have said they had arrested a suspect and Iranian authorities condemned Friday’s incident, but said the gunman appeared to have had a personal, not a political, motive. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called for “a comprehensive investigation” of the incident and sent his condolences to Azerbaijan and the dead man’s family, state media said. The incident came amid increased tensions between the neighbouring countries over Iran’s treatment of its large ethnic Azeri minority and over Azerbaijan’s decision this month to appoint its first ever ambassador to Israel.
Newsline: Iran fatal embassy shooting sparks Azerbaijan’s protests
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry responded strongly to the attack, summoning Iran’s ambassador in Baku to demand justice and saying it would evacuate its embassy staff from Tehran. It said an “anti-Azerbaijani campaign” in Iran had contributed to the attack and accused Tehran of long ignoring its appeals to boost embassy security. “Unfortunately, the latest bloody terrorist act demonstrates the serious consequences of the failure to give the necessary attention to our constant appeals in this regard,” it said. “The attacker broke through the guard post, killing the head of security with a Kalashnikov assault rifle,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, quoted on a government site, said that based on evidence and initial observations the gunman’s motive was “completely personal”. “Necessary security measures have been taken to continue normal activities at the embassy and diplomats of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran,” he said. Amirabdollahian later told Azeri Foreign Minister Jayran Bairamov in a phone call that he hoped the attack would not damage bilateral ties. A gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people at Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran on Friday, in an attack Baku branded an “act of terrorism” that it said was the result of Tehran failing to heed its calls for improved security. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev demanded swift punishment for those involved in Friday’s “act of terrorism”. (https://neuters.de/world/asia-pacific/guard-killed-shooting-azerbaijans-embassy-iran-2023-01-27/) Azerbaijan, a secular Muslim former Soviet republic, has friendly ties with the United States and Israel and has had difficult diplomatic relations with Iran.
Newsline: Azerbaijan summons Dutch Ambassador
Ambassador of the Netherlands to Azerbaijan Pauline Eizema was summoned to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 25, the ministry told Trend. During the meeting, the ambassador was briefed on the ministry’s dissatisfaction with the letter of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra, addressed to the Dutch Parliament on November 23, over alleged war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani Army. (https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/3673514.html) The ambassador was told that the Armenia-planted landmines on Azerbaijan’s lands come as a vivid example of continuing Armenian war crimes against Azerbaijanis.
Newsline: Azerbaijan to become first Shi’ite Muslim country with embassy in Israel
Azerbaijan is set to become the first Shi’ite Muslim-majority state to open an embassy in Israel, following parliamentary approval on Friday. Prime Minister Yair Lapid praised the decision, calling Azerbaijan “an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world. “The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of the relations between the countries,” Lapid added. “This move is the fruit of efforts by the Israeli government to build strong diplomatic bridges with the Muslim world.” (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-722774) The new embassy, which The Jerusalem Post reported was in the works last month, will be in Tel Aviv, where the country already has a Tourism Office and a Trade Representative Office. Israel and Azerbaijan have had relations for 30 years, and there has been an Israeli embassy in Baku since 1993.
Newsline: Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry summons Iranian ambassador
Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Seyyed Abbas Mousavi was summoned to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the meeting, the ambassador was conveyed the dissatisfaction and concern regarding the alleged recent propaganda against the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Iranian media and the comments by the Iranian officials. The Azeri said also called on Iran to hand over criminals and alleged separatists. (https://en.mehrnews.com/news/193521/Azerbaijani-Foreign-Ministry-summons-Iranian-ambassador) The move came a day after the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of Azerbaijan to protest the continuation of anti-Iran propaganda and media misinformation about the Islamic Republic by the country’s officials and media.
Newsline: Azerbaijan to open embassy in Israel
Azerbaijan has decided to open an embassy in Israel, after 30 years of relations between the two countries and amid tensions with neighboring Iran, local media reported. “The decision has already been made, the opening of the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel can only be delayed for technical reasons,” Arzu Naghiyev, an MP and member of the Azerbaijan-Israel parliamentary friendship group, told the Azerbaijani news site Pravda. He pointed out that the two countries have very good relations, despite the absence of an embassy. (https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy/1667313067-azerbaijan-to-open-embassy-in-israel) Israel and Azerbaijan enjoy close relations, especially in defense matters, as 69 percent of Azerbaijan’s arms imports between 2016 and 2020 came from Israel.
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