Azerbaijan rebukes Iran over ‘insulting statements’ its president

Azerbaijan has summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in Baku following the broadcast of a religious ceremony on Iranian television that included remarks perceived as insults directed at Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry indicated that Seyyed Jafar Aghayi Marian, the Iranian embassy’s charge d’affaires in Azerbaijan, received a formal note of “strong protest” regarding the “insulting statements” made against Azerbaijan and its leadership.

Baku also conveyed its significant discontent regarding what it termed the “anti-Azerbaijani sentiment” prevalent in Iran. The Foreign Ministry asserted that the “slanderous and biased information” about Azerbaijan reportedly disseminated by Iranian media undermines the “spirit of bilateral relations, goals, and objectives” established between the two nations.

The incident occurred in the Iranian city of Ardabil on December 29. According to a statement from the Ardabil Grand Mosque, as reported by local media, “an individual unexpectedly made emotionally charged statements that disparaged certain foreign figures,” which deviated from the approved agenda. A widely circulated video clip purportedly shows a speaker criticizing both Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding their foreign policy.

Iranian officials have acknowledged that the diplomat was summoned, labeling the remarks in question as “ill-considered.” They reiterated that Tehran’s core policy is to foster amicable relations with neighboring countries, particularly Azerbaijan.

Mojtaba Demirchilu, assistant to the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry and head of its Eurasian department, stated, as reported by the IRNA news agency, that “the protest from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry was prompted by the thoughtless and inappropriate comments made by an individual during a ceremony in one of our country’s northwestern cities.”

Demirchilu further stressed that “such statements do not reflect the official stance of Iran’s leadership.”

In July, Azerbaijan reopened its embassy in Tehran and resumed consular services four months later, after the embassy had been closed in January 2023 due to an attack on the building, which Baku labeled as “a terrorist act.” An investigation by Iranian authorities concluded that the incident stemmed from “personal and family-related issues.”