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Fuad Muxtar-Aqbabali

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For several decades already, Iran’s theocratic regime has been in the grip of profound domestic chaos and economic poverty, coupled with man-made hardships, military failures, and diplomatic scandals with neighbors in a bid to terrorize secular nations under the gun of Shiite fanaticism.

Since 1979, the regime has been under biting economic sanctions and has only succeeded in multiplying the number of enemies despite channeling billions of petro-dollars in proxy wars around the globe in the hope to destabilize whole regions by installing pro-regime forces in power.

Luckily, the Tehran mullahcracy has so far failed on many fronts, and billions of petro-dollars channeled into the regime’s adventures came back to pockets of jingoistic, prideful, and vainglorious bearded generals Iran designated to spearhead chimerical, hallucinatory and nebulous agitprops, brainwashing, disinformation and hypes designed to advance the regime's global influence.

For nearly 30 years, Azerbaijan has been severely hit by Iran’s never-ending plots, treacherous policies, poisoning brains of thousands of young Azerbaijanis at religious schools modeled to advance religious schism and harm Azerbaijan’s determination to cement foundations of own independent state viewed by millions of Southern Azerbaijanis as ideal to become united again following perfidious division into south and north by the Persians and tsarist Russia in early XIX century.

Iran’s obvious hostile position and policies against Azerbaijan's interests have not ceased for a second throughout the 30-year independence period. Even when the Soviet Union demised, the Tehran regime hesitated for a long time whether or not to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence and finally did so as there were no arguments to act differently.

On March 29, Azerbaijan opened its first-ever embassy in Israel and one of the major reasons that Baku has not opened its embassy in Tel Aviv up to now was to avoid Iran’s unfounded and hostile attitude towards itself with nearly 20 percent of lands under Armenian occupation. With the opening of Baku’s embassy, Tehran renewed a series of unsound, spurious, and false accusations.

Iran’s accusation about the presence of foreign forces on the territory of Azerbaijan as always is groundless and completely unacceptable. Azerbaijan as an honest actor and active political player has always ruled out harboring criminal elements on its soil to be used against a third country and this was repeatedly voiced by the country’s leadership.

The latest slanderous, defamatory, and calumnious remarks by the commander of the army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kiyumars Heydari, were an integral part of the regime’s accusations deprived of any evidence and reasoning.

In his nonsense remarks, K. Heydari claims that there are supposedly "Zionist" forces in Azerbaijan and that Azerbaijan used ISIS terrorists brought from Syria during the 44-day war, and that they are still in the country. At the same time, he repeats the regime’s old claims about changes in borders.

What are the real goals of Iran's fabrication of "Zionist military forces in Azerbaijan?"

Heydari’s opinions are not only an interference in the internal affairs of another state, but also a clear example of political shamelessness and overstepping.

The remarks of generals representing Iran’s theocratic regime, engaged in terrorism, are unacceptable for the secular state and the threatening language will definitely hit back since its menaces go beyond all limits.

Official Tehran should know that Azerbaijan, as an independent state, is not accountable to any state/s, and its foreign policy priorities are dictated by the national interests and will be so for ever.

If the Tehran regime considers Israel to be its enemy or the "Zionist force", it is its own business. However, the attempt to speak with Azerbaijan in the language of diktat may cost it dearly at some point. Today, Azerbaijan is developing its relations not only with Israel, but also with other countries, and no other country has the right or authority to protest against it.

Actually, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry properly reacted to Iran’s misguided, gratuitous, and misinformed accusations.

Today Iran, which supports Armenia, also backs terrorism in parallel and thus indirectly proves that it is also a terrorist state. In other words, no matter what country it is, if an obvious hostile position is displayed against Azerbaijan's interests and regional policy, it will be properly responded to.

Iran openly and outrightly backs Armenia, which serves to create instability in the region.

Is it only Armenia? Of course, not. Today, IRGC terrorists are in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and so on, where they run terrorist camps and threaten the world order, and now they are trying to target Azerbaijan. Iran has also deployed thousands of SEPAH militias to train Armenian forces in terrorizing Azerbaijani civilians, who are now being relocated back to their homes in the formerly occupied districts.

However, official Baku is not going to turn a blind eye to Iran’s terror network to expand and take root across Azerbaijan and in the South Caucasus and will resolutely water down Tehran’s plots to turn the region into another Lebanon.

Instead of making arrogant statements and occasionally making anti-Azerbaijani threatening video clips, slob and scrimshanker IRGC generals would better deal with Iran’s domestic problems and investigate the reasons for the mass protests that have taken place in the country for nearly a year that threaten to destroy the pillars of the theocratic regime.

Now that the Israeli embassy has been operating in Azerbaijan for over 25 years, Azerbaijan has just inaugurated its embassy in Tel Aviv and the representative office in Palestine. Just this fact and the call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem indicate Baku’s sincere attitude to the issue, unlike Iran's saber-rattling and plots to further destabilize the Middle East.

Azerbaijan for reasons understandable delayed the opening of the embassy in Israel but now when the Karabakh resolution is nearing its logical end, Baku had no reason to further postpone the matter and did not do so despite Iran’s threats, the armed attack on the nation's Tehran embassy, the killing of the embassy security officer, attempted assassination of parliamentarian Fazil Qazanfar, the killing of public figures in the past as well as continuous efforts to smuggle tons of narcotics into the country.

Azerbaijan is a sovereign nation and is not obliged to ask Iran’s permission though the regime in Tehran would want it very much and does not give up hopes to compel Baku with terror and other means to that end but in vain.

Azerbaijan did not ask Tehran why it opened the embassy in Yerevan or the consulate general in Kapan several months ago. Azerbaijan has been asking the regime to collaborate in the investigation of the attack on the embassy though Tehran is avoiding Baku’s rightful demand. The regime did not respond to the betrayal and martyrdom of the Azerbaijani service members in Zangilan during the 44-day war.

Tehran’s "red lines" intimidatory remark is not worth a penny and claims that it will not allow the violation of its historical borders stands for nothing for Azerbaijan as the latter is obliged to restore historic justice and regain lands still under Armenia’s occupation and further to reunite the divided south and north under unified Azerbaijan to rectify 200-year-long tragedy and accomplish the mission of leading, secular nation.

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