AZERI DIPLOMAT SAYS BOTH IRANIAN AND ARMENIAN NUKE DEVELOPMENTS POSE THREAT

Interfax-AVN military news agency website, Moscow
11 Apr 06

Baku, 11 April: NATO has no plans to stage a military invasion of
Iran, said NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central
Asia Robert Simmons.

Speaking at a news briefing in Baku on Tuesday [11 April] following
negotiations with the Azerbaijani leadership, Simmons said, however,
that NATO is concerned about the situation in Iran and hopes that
the negotiating process involving three of its members, Germany,
the UK and France, will be completed successfully.

Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said Baku is also concerned
about how the Iran crisis will be resolved, due to the geographical
proximity of the two states.

Azerbaijan is following the negotiating process with Iran closely,
he said.

“The problem is currently being discussed at the UN Security Council,
and we hope that it will be resolved at a political, diplomatic level,”
Azimov said.

Azimov also pointed out that, while the Iranian nuclear problem poses
a strategic threat to Azerbaijan, the Metsamor nuclear power plant
functioning in neighbouring Armenia is a real threat to Azerbaijan’s
and the entire region’s security, which, he said, has been confirmed
by international experts.