Azerbaijan Denounces "Slanderous" Remarks by Top Iranian Army Commander

Baku has denounced what it called “slanderous” comments by a senior Iranian military commander who claimed that members of the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group had fought in the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Relations between the oil-rich Caspian Sea neighbors have been strained in recent months. Earlier this week, Azerbaijani authorities said they were investigating “a terror attack” after a lawmaker with strong anti-Iranian views was shot and wounded.

“When there was a war between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, one side of the conflict invited and hosted some ISIS terrorists from Syria, and they came to the region,” Kiumars Heydari, head of Iran‘s army ground forces, said on March 30.

It was unclear “whether they have left the region or not,” Heydari said, adding, “We cannot accept the presence of these terrorists at our borders.”

Heydari did not say on which side the ISIS militants fought.

But the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry quickly issued a statement condemning Heydari’s remarks as “vile, defamatory and slanderous.”

“Generally speaking, there are no foreign elements on the territory of Azerbaijan,” it said.

The ministry complained that Tehran had clearly taken Yerevan’s side, saying, “Today it is no secret to anyone that if Armenia has two main allies in the world, France is one of them, and Iran is the other.”

Baku and Tehran have often had strained relations.

Azerbaijan has often had strained relations with Iran, which is home to more than 12 million ethnic Azeris, the country's largest minority group.

On March 29, Azerbaijan's State Security Service (DTX) said that a member of parliament, Fazil Mustafa, was hospitalized after being shot with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Mustafa is known in the chamber as an outspoken critic of Iran.

DXT said his life was not in danger.

In January, Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran after what it called a "terrorist attack" that killed the diplomatic mission’s head of security.

Azerbaijan maintains close ties to Israel, which Tehran considers as its top regional foe.

Baku is also unhappy about signs of improving relations between Iran and Armenia, which lost a 2020 war against Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.