“The likelihood of such a provocative step from the Iranian side was quite high.” Political analyst Oktay Gasimov said this today while commenting on the drone attack on Azerbaijan to Medianews.az.
He noted that even before the war that started on February 28 between the US, Israel, and Iran, Tehran officials declared that if an attack occurred, the issue would go beyond Iran’s borders: “However, at that time, it was thought that the countries being talked about were those with US military bases in the area or countries whose territory or airspace was used to attack Iran. Since Azerbaijan does not belong to any of these categories, the likelihood of our country being targeted was very low.
There are no military bases of any other country, including the US and Israel, on Azerbaijani territory. Azerbaijan has never allowed the use of its territory or airspace for attacks against Iran. In this regard, Iran’s drone strike on Nakhchivan is a provocative step. Certain circles in Iran actually attempted to accuse Azerbaijan during the 12-day war with Israel last summer. It is true that these claims were denied by the Iranian president and other officials. But today’s incident shows that certain circles in Iran have decided to spoil relations with Azerbaijan and strike a blow against our country. At present, there is no unified coordination in the Iranian army; there are approximately independent units making decisions there. However, in any case, such an attitude towards our country is absolutely unacceptable.”
“The Azerbaijani side must take serious measures and will do so. Iran’s provocative actions must not go unanswered and will not go unanswered. Any aggression against our country will be decisively thwarted. The Iranian side must learn a lesson from these events. Continuing hostility towards Azerbaijan complicates their own situation. Trust in Iran is already extremely weak. Provocations lower this trust even further.”
“The incident in Nakhchivan today and the deterioration of relations between the two countries is suitable to neither party nor the region’s overall interests. But it seems that this regime and some circles determining its policies intend to completely ruin the relations.”
Nailə Gasimova,
Medianews.az