But now we are talking about Iran, who has crossed every line with its anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric and is desperate to stay in the region. The exercises are being conducted along the border with Iran, sending an open message to the mullahcratic regime. And Tehran is well aware of it.
In the new geopolitical realities of the region, the military and political influence of Azerbaijan and Turkey has increased substantially. This cannot but worry Iran, who reacts fiercely to any success of the two brotherly countries. In October Iran decided to demonstrate its strength by starting military exercises on the border with Azerbaijan, where its tank units practiced crossing rivers using pontoon bridges.
Things are not as bad as they may seem. In terms of logistics, the Iranian army remains in the 1970s because of the sanctions it has been subjected to for many years. The October exercises of the Iranian military, during which they practiced deploying pontoon bridges and crossing the Araz River on the border with Azerbaijan, were a vivid illustration of the above statement.
Today, Iran is directly responsible for the devastated Ukrainian cities, the destroyed energy infrastructure, and the civilian casualties there. Although Tehran had previously denied supplying UAVs to the Russian Federation for the war in Ukraine, the Iranian government was finally forced to acknowledge those deliveries. The West took notice and imposed further anti-Iranian sanctions.
Admittedly, in the first days of their use, Iranian UAVs were a headache for the Ukrainian military, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces quickly adapted to the situation and learned how to shoot them down. As a result, more than 85% of the Iranian drones are destroyed on their route. The fact is that the Iranian UAVs are hastily copied American drones, quite primitive in comparison with the American originals. Hence the low efficiency of Iranian kamikaze drones.
And if Iran seriously thought that its muscle-flexing would force Azerbaijan to retreat and stop defending its national interests, they were sorely mistaken: “We regularly have more than ten military trainings with Turkey during one year, both in Turkey and in Azerbaijan. As I said, this is a very important factor of regional stability and our security. All those who have hostile plans against Azerbaijan and Turkey should know that Turkish army is not only Turkish army but also our army, and our army is not only our army but also Turkish army. And all those who plan provocations on our borders, trying to frighten us, should never forget it,” President Ilham Aliyev said at the international conference “Along the Middle Corridor: Geopolitics, Security and Economy” on November 25.
Since the 1990s, Iran has supported Armenia and defended Armenia’s interests. While Azerbaijan was going through hard times in the early years of its independence and facing Armenian occupation, Iran developed political, trade and economic and humanitarian relations with Armenia as if nothing had happened and joint projects were implemented between the two countries. Iranian leaders regularly embraced Armenian butchers such as Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, whose hands were soaked in the blood of the Azerbaijani people. For 30 years, Iran turned a blind eye to the destruction of the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people, the destruction and desecration of mosques in the occupied territories. Iranian companies were deeply involved in the plundering of the natural resources of Karabakh. That is, Iran wanted a weak Azerbaijan and, conversely, a stronger Armenia. Is this what a country declaring Islamic values and Muslim brotherhood does?
Moreover, the leadership of Iran was one of the last to voice support for Azerbaijan, having made sure that the outcome of the war was already clear and Armenia’s surrender was inevitable. But during the war, Tehran used all kinds of means against our country, from sending weapons to Armenia to open threats.
Should the military-political leadership of Iran completely lose its collective mind and resort to armed aggression against Azerbaijan, it will immediately bring into force the provision of the Shusha Declaration stating that in the event of a threat or aggression by a third state or states against either country’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability or security of internationally recognized borders, the Parties will hold joint consultations and, with a view to eliminating this threat or aggression, will take initiatives in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and provide each other with the necessary assistance under the UN Charter.
Azerbaijan is not alone, and any elaborate efforts of Iran are doomed to fail. Azerbaijan and Turkey’s military exercises are a strong warning to Iran, and the ball is now in Tehran’s court. It is time for Tehran to realize that attempts to regain its former influence in the region by allying itself with Yerevan are a wrong decision and may lead to the destabilization of the situation in the region.
Abdul Kerimkhanov, Editor-in-Chief
Translated from Day.Az
