Iran warns Azerbaijan over Israeli 'arms buy'
IRAN: Iran challenged Azerbaijan on Tuesday over $1.5 billion in arms
it said were purchased from arch-foe Israel, state media reported, in a
sign of further strains between the neighbouring countries.
Azebaijan's ambassador to Tehran was called in to the foreign
ministry to explain the weapons and to receive a warning that Israel
must not be permitted to use Azerbaijan to stage "terrorist acts"
against Iran. Iranian news agencies reported that the ambassador,
Javanshir Akhundov, acknowledged the arms purchase after getting
confirmation from his government.
He explained that the weapons were bought "to liberate occupied
Azerbaijani land," but did not elaborate, according to the reports.
The Iranian agencies quoted Akhundov saying that Baku "will not allow
the weapons to be used against third nations, in particular the Islamic
Republic of Iran." The reports came a week after police in Azerbaijan
said they arrested an unspecified number of people linked to Iran and to
the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on suspicion of planning attacks
in the country. AFP
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