Azerbaijan presents note to Iranian Foreign Ministry over detention of its citizens
By Arslan Abbasov
Consulate General of Azerbaijan presented a note to the Iranian Foreign Ministry in connection with the detention in Iran of Azerbaijani citizen - research fellow of the Institute of Literature named after Nizami Ganjavi of the National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), scientist-orientalist Khalida Khalid and her assistant Shamkhal Huseynov, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend news agency on Thursday.
According to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, employees of the North-Western department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tabriz confirmed the detention of Azerbaijani citizens to the Consulate General.
The Consulate General sent a note on this matter to the relevant authorities in Iran, which demanded the Iranian side to clarify the details of the detention of Azerbaijani citizens and provide information on their location in the near future.
According to the ministry, Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry attaches great attention to this issue.
Earlier, Iranian law enforcement agencies verbally confirmed the detention of two Azerbaijani citizens, Azerbaijani Vice Consul in Tabriz, Nariman Orujaliyev, told Trend on Thursday.
The Consulate General learned about the detention of the Azerbaijani citizens from media publications and the matter is currently under investigation, the Consulate General told Trend on Wednesday.
The Azerbaijani citizens were arrested in Tabriz on Tuesday by employees of the Ministry of Information Security and Intelligence of Iran, Iranian media outlets reported. Their current location is unknown.
The Institute of Literature of Azerbaijan's Academy of Sciences has confirmed that these persons are employed by the institute.
Deputy Director of the Institute of Literature Muharram Gasymly said that Khalid left on April 26 without permission. She neither consulted with the leadership of the Institute about her departure, nor arranged a business trip, he said.
Khalida Khalid is a junior research assistant in the department of literature of foreign countries and foreign literary relations of the Institute of Literature with no academic degree, Gasymly said.
The Deputy Director expressed doubt that Khalida Khalid's activities could possibly be the subject of suspicions to the Ministry of Information, Security and Intelligence of Iran.
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