Azernews.Az

BAKU – President Ilham Aliyev said hosting Iran’s parliament speaker on Friday that Azerbaijan’s relations with Iran are crucial for strengthening security in the region, according to the Azerbaijani president's press service.

President Aliyev said the two neighboring states are closely cooperating in all fields, stressing that their political ties are strengthening.

Aliyev said economic cooperation has also yielded fruit. Azerbaijan and Iran are implementing joint transport and energy projects, and this collaboration should be further expanded in the future, he said.

Regarding relations between the two countries’ parliaments, the president said mutual visits were important to expand relations.

Speaker Ali Larijani said he had witnessed rampant development in Azerbaijan since his last visit 14 years ago, terming it as a result of a proper policy pursued by Baku.

Larijani said Iran-Azerbaijan relations have historical roots, noting that Azerbaijan’s late President Heydar Aliyev played a special role in opening "a new page" in bilateral ties. He added that there was vast potential to further expand relations between the two countries.

Some analysts say the Iranian parliament speaker’s visit paid hot on the heels of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ holding talks in Baku was not accidental. Elkhan Shahinoglu, head of the Baku-based Atlas research center, said Larijani’s visit had two main goals.

"One of the goals should be looked for in the Middle East, while the other in the north -- in Kazan where the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents have recently met with the Russian leader’s mediation [to discuss the Nagorno Karabakh conflict].

"In Tehran, they probably thought that some agreement incompliant with the Iranian interests could be reached in Kazan, because Iran is afraid the most of peacekeeping forces being stationed in the region. Tehran is concerned that those forces could include US and NATO soldiers that would be based on the border with Iran," the analyst said.

Shahinoglu said that on the other hand, Iran is worried by Azerbaijan’s relations with Israel.

"Larijani’s mentioning Israel in one of his statements made in Baku, in my view, is an indirect message to the Azerbaijani government. This issue was probably touched upon in [the Iranian speaker’s] official meetings."

Addressing believers at a Baku mosque on Thursday, Larijani accused Israel of insulting Muslims. As an example of this disrespect he cited the demolition of the walls of Al-Aqsa mosque in al-Quds (Jerusalem).