Envoy rubbishes US media reports on Iran-Azeri ties

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
25 Aug 05

[Presenter] Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Afshar Soleymani has made
interesting statements about the current state of relations between
Tehran and Baku. He said that Iran is not Azerbaijan’s enemy. Those
saying such things were a bit brainless.

[Correspondent over video of the ambassador’s news conference] US
media reports that Iran is going to attack Azerbaijan are nonsense,
Iranian ambassador to our country Afshar Soleymani told a news
conference today. The ambassador said that such reports were only
ridiculous. But his comments on this were also laughable.

[Soleymani speaking in Azeri] When a person bangs his head against the
wall, he says all sorts of things. He can’t help it. This might be the
case here. Naturally, a normal and healthy person will never say
so. I think he had dreamed it all.

This can never happen between Iran and Azerbaijan.

[Correspondent] Soleymani ruled out any problems between Iran and
Azerbaijan in any spheres and said that Iran always supported
Azerbaijan. Asked about the reasons for Azerbaijan’s absence from the
list of seven countries, including Armenia, which Iran had provided
with financial aid, the ambassador said:

[Soleymani] As far as Iran is concerned, Azerbaijan is not the same as
the other seven or seventy countries. This was the reason. Iran sees
the Azerbaijani Republic as a fraternal and neighbouring country.

[Correspondent] To prove his statements, Mr Soleymani said that trade
between Iran and Azerbaijan totalled 500m dollars. The ambassador also
noted that Iran had no humanitarian organizations in Armenia, unlike
in Azerbaijan.