Azernews.Az

WASHINGTON, D.C. – An Obama administration envoy held talks with Azerbaijani leaders on Tuesday in a bid to rally support for the UN sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.

Stuart Levy, the US Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, told a news briefing after talks in Baku that the visit aimed to heed attention of the United States’ allies to Iran’s illegitimate actions and abuse of the world financial system.

Levy met with the Azerbaijani president, Central Bank chairman, ministers of foreign affairs and finance as well as private sector representatives.

The Treasury Department official said the U.S. and Azerbaijan, its key strategic ally, should bring closer their positions on Iran’s nuclear program.

"We believe that US and Azerbaijani interests in this area overlap," Levy said. "Protecting Azerbaijan’s financial system from the threat posed by Iran aids bolstering the image of Azerbaijan’s finance sector and, subsequently, helps to draw investment here."

According to Levy, Iran poses a threat not only to the regional countries but the whole world. He said Azerbaijan should be particularly cautious considering its geographic proximity to Iran.

The U.S. and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, despite Tehran’s assurances its nuclear program serves peaceful purposes. The UN Security Council has passed six resolutions on the issue, with four of them urging Iran to scrap its uranium enrichment work and two others issuing warnings to the country.

In June 2010, the UN SC adopted another resolution to toughen the sanctions against Iran after the country failed to halt uranium enrichment. The resolution envisions sanctions against Iranian banks operating abroad if they are suspected of a link to Tehran’s nuclear or missile defense programs. It warns that world countries should exercise caution during transactions involving Iranian banks and calls for blocking Iran’s financial operations, including insurance transactions.

Undersecretary Levy said the UN SC resolution should be fully enforced. "In particular, every country should try to counter any such transfer of funds," he said.

Asked whether Azerbaijan and Iran had any joint projects that run counter to the UN resolution, Levy said he was unaware of this.

Levy said one must be vigilant while implementing such projects, as the UN SC resolution says that there is a link between Iran's energy sector and its nuclear development.

Iran’s NICO is a shareholder in the Western-backed Shahdaniz gas project in Azerbaijan.

Levy said he had very important meetings in Baku but did not elaborate further.

The statements issued by Azerbaijani official sources do not have reference to any discussions held on international sanctions against Iran.

The presidential press service said President Ilham Aliyev had discussed a slew of economic cooperation issues while hosting Levy’s delegation.

During a meeting with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, the parties mulled US-Azerbaijani relations and regional issues.

Azerbaijan’s Central Bank said its board chairman Elman Rustamov and Undersecretary Levy had exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in fighting money laundering and terror financing.

Azerbaijani officials have not yet expressed a clear-cut stance on the US call to join international sanctions against Iran.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov merely said that Azerbaijan honors UN decisions.

"Azerbaijan is a member of the U.N., and it goes without saying that as a responsible member of the world community, we respect all of the decisions passed by the U.N."

Political commentator Sadraddin Soltan says Azerbaijan should first secure guarantees of its own security before it could move to join financial sanctions against neighboring Iran.

Soltan also believes that the country could take the step only alongside the other South Caucasus republics and Russia.

"If Azerbaijan goes it alone, this could cause additional problems for the country and could be very dangerous," the analyst said.

Soltan said that if Baku joins the UN sanctions, it should also bring to the agenda the enforcement of four UN resolutions calling for an unconditional pullout of Armenian armed forces from occupied Azerbaijani territories.

"If UN resolutions are binding, Armenia, too, must comply with them and withdraw from the Azerbaijani land it occupies."

Soltan also said Azerbaijan should raise the issue of compensation for economic and financial damages it could sustain as a result of joining the anti-Iran sanctions.

Following his meetings in Baku, Levy left for Ankara where he is reportedly due to hold similar talks on the Iran issue with Turkish officials.