AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Feb 9 2008

AZERI PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES IRANIAN LEADERS ON ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
ANNIVERSARY

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Iran’s supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic
Revolution, the Azerbaijani state news agency AzarTAc has reported.

In his message to Khamene’i, Ilham Aliyev vowed to continue efforts
to boost ties between the two Muslimneighbours, the agency said.

"On this happy day, I wish you good health and success in your work,"
the letter said. "I also wishthe friendly Iranian people peace and
prosperity."

In a separate letter, President Aliyev also congratulated his Iranian
counterpart Mahmud Ahmadinezhad on theanniversary of the Islamic
Revolution.

BBC Monitoring note: Despite official statements about "friendly"
relations between Azerbaijan and Iran,the two countries have serious
disputes on a number of issues, including the division of the Caspian
Sea. Tehran isunhappy about Azerbaijan’s warm relations with the USA
and Israel, while the authorities in Baku are displeased with Iran’s
growing economic cooperation with rival Armenia.

Iran has a sizable ethnic Azerbaijani population, the rights of which
also cause tensions between the twocountries.