Azeri expert says attack on Iran "dangerous" for Azerbaijan

Day.az website, Baku
14 Mar 07

Well-known Azerbaijani political scientist Eldar Namazov has commented
on the situation around Iran.

The conflict over the Iranian nuclear programme will most likely
deepen, Namazov said.

"The Iranian authorities have formed a certain public opinion in the
country and it is unlikely that they will be able to change their
policy. Otherwise, this would lead to a serious problem in the
election and to the defeat of the ruling elite," he noted.

"This state of affairs is dangerous for Azerbaijan because there are
numerous facilities on Azerbaijani territory that either partly or
fully belong to US companies. They could turn out to be soft targets
for military response," Namazov said.

He expressed a serious concern about possible military actions in Iran
as there will be an influx of refugees to the neighbouring Azerbaijan
and this could be "a serious blow to the Azerbaijani economy".

Namazov said that one out of every seven people residing in Azerbaijan
is a refugee or an involuntary migrant. He said Azerbaijan is
interested in settlement of the conflict over the Iranian nuclear
programme by diplomatic and political means. "Unfortunately, the
course of developments makes the chances of this happening small," he
said.

Namazov also touched on Washington’s official statement on the plan to
deploy anti-missile defences in the South Caucasus. The political
scientist noted that "this statement is not a declaration of intention
as the US Senate said that this is a desirable but not a vitally
necessary step for the anti-missile defence programme".

"As this is not a vitally necessary step for this programme, then it
is most likely a move to take soundings of the people’s opinions,"
Namazov said.

"As for the deployment of the anti-missile defences in Poland and
Czech Republic, this has stirred debates in the European Union,"
Namazov said. [Passage omitted: more about Europe’s reaction]