Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan would never allow use of its soil against any neighbor country, the foreign ministry spokesman has said, commenting on Wednesday's media reports claiming Israeli forces would be allowed to deploy at Azerbaijani military bases for a possible attack on Iran.

Elman Abdullayev dismissed the reports, circulated by US and Israeli media, as "baseless" and "provocative", saying that Azerbaijan respects the territorial integrity and independence of all its neighbors.

"We do not allow third parties to meddle in the relations with our neighbors," Abdullayev told a press briefing.

The reports on granting Israel access to Azerbaijani military bases have been circulated in the local and international media since February 2012. The reports also said Azerbaijan had purchased $1.6 billion worth of Israeli weapons including dozens of drones. Shortly after the reports were published -- in April -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

This was another reason for a rise in tensions between Baku and Tehran. 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.

The news on the arms deal came out as a special operation was conducted by 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.

On April 16, President Ilham Aliyev, in a meeting with cabinet members, said 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.

Ali Hasanov, head of social and political affairs at the Presidential Administration, said in mid-September that Azerbaijan-Iran relations are normalizing and it is evident.

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.