Will the Republic of Azerbaijan be drawn into the conflict between Iran and Israel?

According to the International Group Tasnim News Agency, 3 years ago Elham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, was stroking the Israeli Harup drone on the border of Iran on the banks of the Aras River and claimed that there are baseless accusations against the Republic of Azerbaijan that Azerbaijan brought Israel to the region. Ilham Aliyev stated that he does not accept the accusations and demanded proof.

Currently, Baku political analysts are worried that if the conflict between Iran and the Israeli regime heats up, if the dimensions increase The Republic of Azerbaijan may become a part of this conflict.

Last week, when Iran started a military response to Israel, the situation has become a little different. It seems that the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran have resolved the tense relations of recent years. It seems that the Republic of Azerbaijan is also inclined to the 3+3 format with the presence of Tehran and Moscow. It faces Iran as a close neighbor.

First let’s start with what Israel expects from the Republic of Azerbaijan as a partner country.

The point is that after Iran’s military action against the Israeli regime on April 13, although many Western countries condemned Tehran and openly supported They made statements from Israel, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in a statement called on both sides to exercise restraint and declared: We ask all parties to exercise restraint and avoid escalating dangerous tensions that could aggravate the situation in the Middle East. /p>

But does this statement satisfy Israel?

Efraim Halevi says that the Republic of Azerbaijan is considering some points and As an Israeli, he does not want to enter Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.

Until now, statements have been made about Azerbaijan’s friendship with Israel against Iran.

Accusations against the Republic Azerbaijan

Some media claim that Israel has sent a drone from its military base in the Republic of Azerbaijan to Iran.

In 2014, Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that an unmanned aircraft had flown from the country’s northern neighbor to Iran.

At that time Ali Hasanov, the head of Azerbaijan’s presidential office, assessed this news as “an incitement of foreign circles”.

The former head of Mossad Halvi says: I don’t think that the territory of Azerbaijan is in the service of Israel. We have relations with Azerbaijan, we do tourist trips, we commute, we have the opportunity to closely follow Iran. In my opinion, this is an advantage. We do not use it in a military sense, we do not intend to enter into a conflict with Iran on the border of Iran and Azerbaijan. Therefore, Azerbaijan can be quite comfortable with us.

In fact, since the mentioned WikiLeaks documents, the relations between Azerbaijan and Israel have warmed in the past period, so that after many years, Baku also opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in 2023.

Israel is one of the main suppliers of military weapons to the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in 2016-2020, Israel supplied up to 70% of Baku’s arms imports. This accounted for 17% of Israel’s arms exports during that period.

In the fall of last year, Forbes magazine wrote that the Republic of Azerbaijan currently provides approximately 40% of Israel’s oil needs and It is an important country that provides fuel for Israel’s cars and airplanes.

sensitive issue for Baku >

Baku considers the military tension between Iran and the Israeli regime a sensitive issue. Hekmat Mamedov, a member of the National Assembly from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, told Turan news agency: “This sensitive issue is one of the main issues of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.” Iran is a very close neighboring country and some circles try to connect the Republic of Azerbaijan with everything that happens there, and unfortunately they want to manipulate the public opinion of Iran.

Rauf Mirgadirov Another political commentator of the Republic of Azerbaijan says that Azerbaijan’s current neutral position is logical and a good position.

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