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Iran sent note of protest to Azerbaijan over the recent forum of the anti-Iranian South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement held in Azerbaijan on March 30. The Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative, Chairman of Iran's Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman harshly responded to Baku. 

Panorama.am held an interview with Iranian studies expert Armen Israyelyan asking him to comment on recent tension in the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan and the causes of the tension.

- What is the cause of the tension in the relations between Baku and Tehran?

- Although Baku says in response to the note of protest from Iran that the activities of anti-Iranian separatist groups are not linked to state policy, nevertheless, several days before the forum of South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement, MP from the Azerbaijani ruling party Siyavush Novruzov stated that he wanted to become the chairman of the Iranian Azerbaijan’s parliament, which means that Azerbaijan directly and indirectly supports anti-Iranian pan-Turkist groups.

- Does Turkey have a role in it?

- Of course, when we confront the facts, we see that Azerbaijan and Turkey jointly implement a program of splitting the northern provinces of Iran. South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement held a conference titled “The role of Southern Azerbaijan in the Turkish world” in Ankara in January 2013, attended by former and current Turkish state officials. Moreover, the ambassador of Turkey to Iran attends the games of Tabriz Football Club with his country’s flag and supports the team of Iran’s Turkish-speaking Azeris.

- What perspectives do you see in Iran-Azerbaijan relations?

- The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador to Iran for several times over a number of issues in 2012. At the end of the previous year, when Iran appointed a new ambassador to Azerbaijan, there was an impression that the bilateral relations between Iran and Azerbaijan normalized to some extent. Two or three years ago, the parties made territorial claims through media, while currently it is done on the level of officials.

I think Azerbaijan, instigated by Turkey and Israel, tries to reduce to a minimum its relations with Iran.

As for the perspective of the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan, they are unlikely to normalize in the near future in view of the disputes between the two countries (the dispute over the legal status of the Caspian Sea, border incidents, problems with Iran’s Turkish-speaking Azeris, disputes over historical and cultural issues, military cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan). As the previous experience shows, under the current problems, the atmosphere of mutual distrust will maintain in the future.