AZERI OFFICIAL SAYS IRAN’S THREATS TO ATTACK MAJOR OIL PIPELINE “NOT SERIOUS”
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
25 Apr 06
[Presenter] Iran still believes that US special services are using
Azerbaijani territories to carry out operations against Iran. Baku
regards Iran’s concerns as groundless and not serious.
[Correspondent] If the USA uses Azerbaijani territory to carry
out military action against Iran, Iran will launch strikes on the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline [BTC] and destroy it, the secretary
of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, has
said. Tehran is seriously worried that the US special services are
currently using Azerbaijani territory against Iran, he said. Baku
regards the statement by the Iranian security chief as not serious.
[Novruz Mammadov, captioned as head of foreign relations department
at the presidential administration] It will not attack and it cannot
attack. There is no need to say more on this. These statements are
not serious and do not need to be commented on.
[Correspondent] Despite Iran’s threats, Kazakhstan is also going to
join the BTC. The president of the State Oil Company [of Azerbaijan;
SOCAR], Rovnaq Abdullayev, has said that an intergovernmental
commission is currently working on this issue and that this issue
will also be on the agenda of [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev’s
Washington meetings. The SOCAR president also commented on threats
to the BTC.
[Rovnaq Abdullayev] There is no need for any additional talks on the
BTC. The BTC is to be completed by the end of May and the first oil
will be loaded on tankers.
[Correspondent] Novruz Mammadov said that in any case, Azerbaijan’s
position is of great importance to Washington in the US policy on
Iran. From this viewpoint, serious discussions will be held during
Ilham Aliyev’s trip to the USA. In return, Azerbaijan will ask
Washington to demonstrate firmness in the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
[Novruz Mammadov] The United States, as a mediator, should finally
demonstrate that it is earnestly interested in the settlement of
this conflict and wants to take important steps to that effect. We
expect, and I believe, that the United States must take a step in
that direction. This will bring great dividends to the USA’s authority
and will also finally establish stability and security in the region.
[Passage omitted: communications projects to be discussed in
Washington; list of US officials scheduled to meet Ilham Aliyev]