Aliyev describes relations with Iran as tense and unstable

PanARMENIAN.Net - During the February 25, 2010, meeting with U.S. Under Secretary William Burns, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that although the visible side of Azerbaijan's relations with Iran appears normal, the substance was very different.

"I do not exclude that relations will be become more difficult," Aliyev said.

"(German Chancellor) Merkel was very firm with me on Iran, trying to persuade me. I told her, 'No need,'" the President recalled.

He said that he was supportive of Iran's economic isolation and believed it could work if the international community worked together. He said that earlier sanctions observance had been spotty with many European energy companies working in Iran. "Statoil supports Iran more than it supports us!" he complained.

He noted that Russian President Medvedev once told him that Russia did not want the Americans to squeeze Iran, but also did not want a nuclear Iran.

Aliyev said that Iranian provocations in Azerbaijan were on the rise. He specifically cited not only the financing of radical Islamic groups and Hezbollah terrorists, but also: the Iranian financing of violent Ashura ceremonies in Nakhijevan; the organization of demonstrations in front of the Azeri consulates in Tabriz and Istanbul; a violent religious procession recently in Baku; the use of the President's photo alongside the Star of David on the Azeri-language Seher TV broadcast into Azerbaijan, and conflict in the Caspian.

He added that Azerbaijan will not reciprocate on the liberalization of the visa regime with Iran. He also noted that Azerbaijan is planning to create a TV channel in Persian that will broadcast into Iran. He said that he did not understand why the Supreme Religious Leader chose Ahmadinejad over former President Moussavi. He joked that perhaps it was too dangerous to have two ethnic Azeris at the head of the Iranian state. He said that the election fraud was outrageous, with Ahmadinejad winning in Azeri-dominated Tabriz and Moussavi winning in Tehran, where it was harder to falsify the vote. He viewed the situation as very tense within Iran and believed it could erupt at any time.