to a state of “cold war,” in the words of an Armenian news agency.
Iran and Azerbaijan have never been warm friends, but the new tensions began in January when Azerbaijani police foiled an attempt to attack Israeli citizens in its capital, Baku, a plot blamed on Iran. More recently, the tensions have centered on cargo trucks, journalists working for the other government, arms procurements from Israel and, the perennial favorite, accusations of espionage.
The Baku attack preparation dates back to October 2011, according to Azerbaijani officials, who add that each piece of equipment in the attack was smuggled into Azerbaijan individually – a military-grade sniper rifle with a silencer, pistols, 16 elements of plastic explosives and detonators.
The Associated Press quoted Azerbaijani authorities as accusing Iranian intelligence services of direct involvement in the plot that is being linked by many to the bombing schemes exposed during February in Tbilisi, Bangkok and New Delhi.
Azerbaijani authorities say a notorious Azerbaijani gang kingpin, Balagardash Dadashev, who has previously been involved in kidnapping and robbery, was the Iranian govern-ment’s agent in the Baku attacks. Iranian agencies reached out to Dadashev, who lives in Iran, and he in turn recruited his brother-in-law, Rasim Aliyev, and a neighbor.
Dadashev was promised $150,000 for killing either of two Israeli teachers at a school for local Jewish children, according to a subsequnt televisied confession. The teachers’ pictures and profiles along with a plan of the school were included in a dossier that was handed over to Aliyev and his partner. The duo received an initial payment of $9,000, part of which they used to buy a used car for the attack.
But they requested a sniper rifle because they noticed there were security cameras at the school. Their plans ultimately collapsed after a series of raids and arrests by Azerbaijani security forces, who later said they had busted another attempted bombing connected to Iranian intelligence agencies.
Iran has rejected any claims of involvement, but that has failed to remedy the tense atmosphere.
Soon after the busts, Azerbaijan announced and Israeli officials confirmed that Azerbaijan has signed contracts for $1.6 billion worth of Israeli weapons, including surveillance drones, antiaircraft artillery and missile defense systems.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry lost no time in summoning the Azerbaijani ambassador, Javan-shir Akhundov, to warn Azer-baijan not to permit Israel to use its soil for any kind of “terrorist acts” against the Islamic Republic.
Iranian news agencies reported that Ambassador Akhun-dov reassured Iran that Baku “will not allow the weapons to be used against third nations, in particular the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He was quoted as saying the arms would be used to “liberate occupied Azerbaijani land.” That was assumed to refer to Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan that Armenian troops occupied in a war in the 1990s. There has been a ceasefire since 1994, but no peace agreement has been signed.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Baku further elaborated: “Azerbaijani lands are under occupation and we have one million refugees and internally displaced people, so we will do everything to restore territorial integrity and return our lands.”
Despite the fact that Azerbaijanis are Shia Muslims and Armenians are Christians, Iran is seen in the area as effectively allied with Armenia.
In February, Azerbaijan sentenced several members of Iran-linked local organizations, Sepah and Hezbollah, to lengthy prison terms on charges of planning to attack the Israeli embassy, a synagogue in Baku, and a radar station in Azerbaijan’s Qabala District. The radar station is operated by Russia—but it faces south to monitor Iranian airspace.
Several of those sentenced were Azerbaijani citizens accused of working for Sepah to bomb the Israeli embassy in May 2008.
Meanwhile, police in Baku arrested an Azerbaijani journalist working for an Iranian television station, Sahar, on charges of possessing heroin. Anar Bay-ramli’s family has denied the charges, and said the arrest is connected to his politics rather than possession of contraband. Presidential spokesman Ali Hasanov said Sahar has no accredited correspondent in Azer-baijan.
Separately, Iranian customs officials reported that about 60 cargo trucks that had initially been granted entry into Azer-baijan had been stopped, allegedly because they were too tall.
The chief of Iran’s Astara customs checkpoint said that the trucks were stranded for about 10 days but were ultimately let go after negotiations with the Azerbaijani side. He also said the Astara checkpoint took similar counter-measures against Azer-baijani trucks, which forced Baku to reconsider its decision.
In a period when the news that has predominantly involved accusations against Iran, an Iranian news website seemed to have just the story to tip the balance. Nedaye Enghelab reported that Azerbaijan had granted asylum to an Israeli citizen involved in the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
“A Jewish person known as ‘Javidan,’ who was involved in the organization of the terrorist operation by Israeli Mossad to assassinate Ahmadi-Rowshan and Ali-Muhammadi, Iranian nuclear scientists, is sheltered by the government of the Azerbaijani Republic,” the website reported.
The website accused Azer-baijani intelligence and security agencies of collaborating with Israel’s Mossad by providing its agents “technical and logistical possibilities and explosive bombs.”
In a development unrelated to espionage or terrorism, an Iranian environmental official said satellite photos showed a 110-kilometer-long oil slick was moving from Azerbaijan in the direction of Iran.
Abdolreza Karbasi, deputy head of the Environmental Protection Organization, told the Fars news agency that the Iranian provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan have been asked to take precautions.
