Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova, AzerNews Staff Writer

Azerbaijan-Iran relations are normalizing and it is evident, a senior Azerbaijani official said after several spats led to a cool-down in ties between the two neighboring countries.

"The relations, which have deteriorated in the past amid an anti-Azerbaijani campaign of some circles in Iran, especially on the eve of the Eurovision song contest, are now improving. Normalization of these relations already shows," Ali Hasanov, head of social and political affairs at the Presidential Administration, told journalists on Friday.

According to Hasanov, Iran and Azerbaijan are ready to continue maintaining bilateral and multilateral relations based on the principles of good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation.

Roots of rift

Relations between Baku and Tehran saw a considerable cooling in 2010 after some misunderstandings on religious grounds. Since that time, a number of incidents occurred both in Iran and Azerbaijan, including tension on their shared border, Islamists' arrests in Azerbaijan and an Azerbaijani journalist's murder.

From that period, the situation remained stable until early 2012, when reports saying that Azerbaijan had purchased $1.6 billion worth of Israeli weapons were circulated by the local and international media in February. Meanwhile, Iran accused Azerbaijan of helping Israel assassinate nuclear scientists on the Iranian soil.

The news on the arms deal coincided with a special operation conducted by the Azerbaijani Ministry of National Security in March, which resulted in the arrest of 22 individuals suspected of spying against Azerbaijan, collecting information about some embassies based in Baku, including Israel's, as well as foreign companies operating in the country.

Afterwards, a number of media carried reports on the Azerbaijani-Israeli arms deal, saying -- based on confidential information from US diplomats and military intelligence officers -- that Israel had secured access to airbases in Azerbaijan from which it could launch bombardment of Iran.

The rumors ceased to circulate on April 16 after the Azerbaijani president's meeting with his cabinet members. President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan would never be involved in military plans of other countries aimed against its neighbor countries. He made clear that Azerbaijan would not become an arena of battles and would not allow use of its territory against its neighbors.

Tensions rose anew between Iran and Azerbaijan over such a significant event as Baku's hosting Eurovision Song Contest in late May 2012.

Iran withdrew its ambassador from Azerbaijan on May 21 after clerics and lawmakers, referring to a "gay parade" -- although no such event was ever planned -- criticized the song contest in Baku "in connection with the insulting of religious saints".

The Iranian government said that the country's ambassador to Azerbaijan had been recalled for consultation.

In turn, the Azerbaijani government recalled its ambassador from Iran.

However, in a month, on June 25, Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Bagir Bahrami returned to Baku and resumed work, which eased the tensions between the two countries.

In the meantime, reasons for the May 2 detention of two Azerbaijani poets in the Iranian city of Tabriz were still unclear.

The poets, Farid Huseyn and Shahriyar Hajizada, were arrested after arriving in Iran in late April to participate at a poetry festival. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry sent five diplomatic notes to the Iranian government over the case.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry later confirmed the arrest of the two Azerbaijani citizens, saying they were accused of "attempting to commit a crime", without elaborating. Afterwards, an Iranian state TV channel reported that officials had interrogated the two Azerbaijani nationals on espionage charges, claiming that the detained poets were on a mission to recruit dissidents in Iran to promote separatism.

Iranian news websites claimed that the Azerbaijani poets were accused of drug trafficking and spying for Israel. However, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry dismissed the spying charges as unfounded.

Turning point

The Azerbaijani poets were released after spending four months in detention, on September 4.

Upon return to Baku, the poets told the local press that "we were treated [in Iran] in line with Islamic rules, with compassion. They created the conditions for cooperation with the staff of the Consulate of Azerbaijan in Tabriz."

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told Iranian media that Iran followed the principles of humanism, Islamic mercy and good neighborliness relations with Azerbaijan over the issue of the poets' release.

The next day, September 5, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Iran's Vice President and Head of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization Hassan Mousavi, who had arrived in Baku with a delegation to attend the Silk Road international conference.

Mousavi said Iran and Azerbaijan have bright prospects for bilateral relations.

"The Azerbaijan Republic is our friend and fraternal country, and great cultural, historical and religious commonalties and good neighborliness have necessitated the expansion of comprehensive relations between the two countries more than ever before," Mousavi said.

The Iranian vice president delivered President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's message to the Azerbaijani president, calling for the strengthening of friendly relations.

Mousavi said Tehran and Baku should capitalize on the great potential to boost their political, economic and cultural cooperation.

Aliyev highlighted the importance of expanding cultural ties between Iran and Azerbaijan.

After the meeting, the Iranian vice president said no obstacle can prevent the expansion of Tehran-Baku ties.

Mousavi expressed hope that the two countries would further bolster their multi-lateral relations, saying President Ahmadinejad's message opened a new page in bilateral ties.