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 “A serious and coordinated struggle must be conducted against Azerbaijan’s falsifications of history and cultural values,” well-known Iranian artist Majid Mehregan told the Iranian news agency ISNA.

According to the agency, Azerbaijan Republic demonstrated an illustrated book at Milan Expo 2015 introducing the samples of the Iranian miniature depicted in it as Azerbaijani.

Majid Mehregan noted Azerbaijan’s policy of appropriating the Iranian cultural values. “Why does Azerbaijan try so hard to register the samples of the Iranian art under its name? It is near to say the name ‘Iran’ is its own, as well. When the Iranian miniature painters were creating their gems, there was no country called Azerbaijan,” he said.

Mohammad Bagher Aghamiri, the head of Iranian Miniature Painting Centre, told ISNA that Baku’s cultural policy is ridiculous, and that necessary steps must be taken to prevent it.

“I do not understand why the Azerbaijanis are ashamed and wish to appropriate everything. If you watch the cultural programmes on the Azerbaijani TV channels, you will see that the miniature painting of the period of Safavid Iran is introduced as Azerbaijani. It is ridiculous,” he added.

“One cannot revise the history. Azerbaijan’s steps need a sharp response. This is the result of the shortcomings in the work of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran. The Cultural Heritage Organisation does no good in that sphere, either. The more criticism in the media, the deafer and blinder they become,” Mohammad Bagher Aghamiri highlighted.

Iran-Azerbaijan relations have seen serious cultural and historical controversies over the recent years. According to the Iranian side, in addition to presenting the Iranian poet Nizami Ganjavi and Nader Shah as “Azerbaijanis”, Azerbaijan also appropriates Iranian cultural values, such as the musical instrument tar, sport polo, the festival Shab-e Yalda (Night of Yalda) and “the Caspian horse.” Moreover, the Museum of History Azerbaijan has recently taken up the attempt to display as a sample of Azerbaijani historical heritage the historic flag, which Abbas Mirza, the crown prince of Qajar Dynasty, gifted to Nakhijevan’s Khan during the battle of Aslanduz in 1812 as a sign of appreciation.