Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Iran FM spokesperson: Relations with Azerbaijan have always been a priority-EXCLUSIVE

20 March 2026 20:00 (UTC +04:00)

“We have deep and ancient ties with Azerbaijan in terms of history, civilization, culture, and religion. Preserving and developing relations with Azerbaijan has always been a priority for us. Over the years, we have made efforts to strengthen relations and mutual trust between the two countries. We have always tried to discuss issues in good faith during our meetings with Azerbaijani officials and to prevent ambiguous forces from exploiting any topic or issue between the two countries.”

This was stated by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei in a comment to APA’s correspondent in Tehran.

Baghaei noted that Azerbaijan acted as a true neighbor during the war period. He recalled that the President of Azerbaijan visited Iran’s embassy in Azerbaijan to offer condolences over the tragic death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and also sent a congratulatory message on the election of the new Supreme Leader.

Baghaei also stated that the drone attack on the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is being investigated:

“We examined this issue at the highest level. The presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan discussed it. The goal was to clarify the matter immediately. In our view, there is a possibility that others may exploit this incident. There are those who use such events to damage relations between Iran and Azerbaijan. During the phone call between the two presidents, it was decided to conduct a joint investigation to determine how the incident occurred.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson also commented on Iran’s actions regarding U.S. bases in Gulf countries:

“From our point of view, the use of the term ‘attack’ in relation to Iran’s actions against its neighbors is entirely inappropriate. Our response concerning Gulf countries stems from U.S. operations against Iran. Legally, the use of the word ‘attack’ is not accurate. We are simply defending ourselves against U.S. military bases. Every country has the natural right to defend itself and to take measures against locations from which attacks are carried out against it.”