Israhell plots war between Iran and Azerbaijan

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Iran kicks off war games amid rising tensions with Azerbaijan and alleged 'Zionist presence'
https://www.rt.com/news/536327-iran-azerbaijan-military-drills/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

The Iranian military has started large-scale drills in the northwestern part of the country, involving drones, armored units and helicopters amid rising tensions with Azerbaijan.

On Friday morning, Iran's Army Ground Forces kicked off the 'Fatehan (Conquerors) of Kheibar' military exercise. Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari told Iranian news agencies that the exercises were planned in order to test weapons, military equipment and assess combat readiness.

The brigadier added that the drills would improve the combat readiness of armed forces stationed in the region and suggested that they had been scheduled. Armored units, artillery and drones from the Army Ground Forces divisions were supported by helicopters from the Army Air Force.

Sharing photos of the exercises online, journalist Heshmat Alavi said the drills were some of the largest ever held by Tehran, noting growing tensions with neighboring Azerbaijan.

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1443827421841666051?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1443827421841666051%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fnews%2F536327-iran-azerbaijan-military-drills%2F

Footage shared on Thursday appears to show Iranian forces gathering in the region ahead of the planned drills.

https://twitter.com/Himat75/status/1443683273608245254?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1443683273608245254%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fnews%2F536327-iran-azerbaijan-military-drills%2F

While some officials have repeatedly suggested the drills are purely routine, others have hinted at worsening relations with Azeri neighbors and the presence of 'Zionists'.

On Wednesday, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Ground Force told reporters that Iran will not tolerate its neighbors becoming "a safe haven and a base for the presence and anti-security activities of the fake Zionist regime."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also stated that Tehran would "not tolerate the presence of the Zionist regime near our borders." The remarks are seemingly a reference to Azerbaijan's ties with Israel.

In an interview with Turkish state news agency Anadolu on Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he was "surprised" by Iran's planned exercises, noting that they were unprecedented in the past 30 years. "Why now? Why exactly on our border? These questions are being asked by the Azerbaijani public, not me," Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan and Israel have enjoyed improving relations in recent decades, with the former supplying oil and the latter military equipment. While relations have been good for some years, it was particularly manifest last year as Azerbaijani forces used Israeli weaponry, with significant success, in a conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Recently, Tehran was seemingly angered by the arrest of two Iranian truck drivers as they transited an Azerbaijani border passage to Armenia.

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Iran strongly protests attack on embassy in Azerbaijan
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2021/10/01/667645/Mousavi-Iran-Azerbaijan-embassy

The Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan has voiced the Islamic Republic's strong protest over an attack on Iran's embassy in Baku, saying Tehran will seriously pursue the case until a result is achieved.

Abbas Mousavi said on Friday that following the attack on the embassy the previous night and Iran's protest through official channels, Azerbaijan's diplomatic police and Interior Ministry have "identified, arrested and interrogated four" people in connection with the issue.

Earlier in the day, the Iranian ambassador vehemently rejected allegations leveled by his Israeli counterpart against the Islamic Republic, saying the Tel Aviv regime would never be able to achieve its dreams for the West Asia region.

"The dreams of Zionism for this region will never be interpreted," Mousavi said in a post on his Twitter account.

His tweet came after Israel's Ambassador to Baku George Deek claimed that Iran oppresses its religious and ethnic minorities and targets Jews in other countries, and said Israel, the United States and Azerbaijan "invest in our diversity and tolerance."

https://twitter.com/SAMOUSAVI9/status/1443687267747442688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1443687267747442688%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.presstv.ir%2FDetail%2F2021%2F10%2F01%2F667645%2FMousavi-Iran-Azerbaijan-embassy

In response to Deek's allegations, Mousavi said Iran regards all Jews, Christians and other followers of the divine religions with "special respect" but "we are sure that the Republic of Azerbaijan and Palestine will remain Islamic countries forever."

Iran will not tolerate foreign, Zionist elements along its borders: Army Ground Force commander

Meanwhile, Commander of the northwestern headquarters of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ali Hajilou said on Friday that the Islamic Republic would not tolerate the presence of foreign and Zionist elements along its common borders with neighboring states.

"Friendly countries should know that there is no difference of opinion among Muslim countries and regional nations and it is the usurping Zionist regime that seeks to sow discord," Hajilou told reporters on the sidelines of a massive military drill, codenamed Fatehan-e Khaybar (Conquerors of Khaybar).

He added that Iran has never carried out an act of aggression over the past two centuries but has always defended its rights and interests decisively. The commander emphasized that the Islamic Republic would not accept any geographical change in common borders with regional states.

"Today is the time for peace, security and the reconstruction of the liberated areas, as well as the expulsion of the Zionist regime from the region. The sinister Zionist regime seeks to sow discord in the region... and we, the Muslim countries of the region, will have a region full of peace and stability through [our] awareness and togetherness."

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that Tehran will not tolerate Israel's presence near the country's borders and will take due measures against the regime's activities.

Stressing that countries had the right to hold military exercises within their territories in line with safeguarding their national sovereignty, the Iranian foreign minister said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not tolerate the presence and activities of the Zionist regime against its national security and will take any necessary action in this regard."

Iran recently held military drills in the country's northwestern border area, which was criticized by Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliev said he was "very surprised" by Iran's decision to hold drills close to his country's borders, and questioned the timing of the maneuvers. Aliev had also accused Iran of sending over trucks to "illegally" cross into the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is a matter of dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Iran's Armed Forces regularly hold military maneuvers to elevate their preparedness and military prowess. The drills serve as a warning message to the enemies against any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic. Tehran has been suspicious of Azerbaijan's links to the Israeli regime, whose supply of drones and other weapons helped Baku gain the upper hand in the war with Armenia last year.

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Rising tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran spark fears of a conflict that would be an Israeli-US proxy war against Tehran
Robert Inlakesh
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/536663-azerbaijan-iran-military-drills/

Tensions are running high as Iran holds war games along its northern border, warning it won't tolerate its neighbour providing a safe haven for the "anti-security activities of the fake Zionist regime."

Iranian war games held along its northern border with Azerbaijan, leading to Baku threatening military deployment in retaliation, has sparked fear of war between the two countries.

But any such war would not end up being won by Tehran or Baku, but rather the United States and Israel, who would likely seize such an opportunity to fuel a Syria-style proxy war against the Islamic Republic.

The tensions that have arisen between Azerbaijan and Iran, as of late September, have seemingly popped up out of nowhere, but such an escalation was only a matter of time. The recent political quarrel has come about as a product of last year's war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, over the Nagorno-Karabakh area, which resulted in a victory for Baku and allowed it to take over Karabakh from Armenia.

Iran had previously used its access through Armenian-controlled Karabakh to reach West Asia and Russia, sending its trucks and other means of transportation through the area, often free of customs.

Since Azerbaijan established its sovereignty over Karabakh, it has cracked down harshly on Iranian trucking and sought to establish itself as the leader of the Caucasus, intending to make itself the primary connection hub between Europe and Asia.

In order to undermine Baku, Iran has now announced that it will help Armenia establish a new bypass road that will cut out Azerbaijan. Although Tehran denies it initiated the recent war games along the Iran-Azerbaijan border with the intent of escalation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev criticised the military drills, asking, "Why now, and why on our border?"

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ground Force offered one answer when he said last week that Iran would not tolerate its neighbors becoming "a safe haven and a base for the presence and anti-security activities of the fake Zionist regime."

In the event that a clash does occur between Iran and Azerbaijan, it is likely that the Islamic Republic has the upper hand, being a regional military powerhouse. Yet Azerbaijan has more potential for causing Iran trouble through its allies and potential proxies than it does through its military might. Iran's military drills, named Fatehan-e Khaybar (Conquerors of Khaybar), are also clearly not just aimed at sending a message to Baku, but also to Israel.

Israel armed Azerbaijan with roughly $825 million in armaments between 2006-2019. Although it would seem strange to some that Iran claims an Israeli presence on its northwestern border, as Israel is not even close geographically and its relationship with Azerbaijan looks on the surface to be mainly business based, it does have a point when it claims this, as the relationship runs far deeper than weapons trade.

A WikiLeaks-released cable sent by Donald Lu, the deputy chief of mission for the US embassy in Baku, to the US State Department revealed the nature of Azerbaijan-Israel ties, stating: "The relationship also affects U.S. policy insofar as Azerbaijan tries, often successfully, to convince the U.S. pro-Israel lobby to advocate on its behalf," indicating a much closer connection than publicly admitted between the two sides. The document also revealed that, "with some humor, the Israeli DCM told us that Israeli businessmen expressed to her that they prefer corruption in Kazakhstan to that of Azerbaijan because in Kazakhstan one can expect to pay exorbitant fees to do business but those are generally collected at once, up front, whereas in Azerbaijan the demands for bribes never cease."

Foreign Policy Magazine published a piece in 2012 in which they claimed that a senior US official confirmed that Israel had secured an airfield in Azerbaijan and that Israel could be using the country for a staging ground against Iran, a charge that Baku denies. Beyond this, Tehran has accused Azerbaijan of encouraging separatists groups inside of Iran, many of which staged demonstrations last year during the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, calling for the re-establishment of what they call "Southern Azerbaijan."

If any war was to be initiated between Baku and Tehran, this would be the greatest opportunity for Israel and the US to back ethnic Azeri separatists in a similar way to how the Obama administration funded and trained Syrian militants to overthrow the government of Bashar Assad. Out of Iran's 83 million citizens, between 10-15 million of them are believed to be ethnic Azeris, meaning that just a small portion of them are needed to form an extremely problematic military force that could fight in urban warfare settings.

The United States and Israel have for long been hesitant to launch direct strikes against Iran, likely for fear of the regional war which it could spark, along with Iranian retaliation, yet a proxy war would be much less costly. During any such war, they could also launch strikes against Iran, especially Israel, which constantly threatens Tehran.

Turkey has already pledged its support to Azerbaijan, and during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, even sent ex-Syrian Jihadist mercenaries to aid Baku's forces; some of these ex-Syrian militants are reportedly present along the Iranian border now.

Iran may be able to handle such a proxy war, but it would certainly be a tough challenge, while Azerbaijan would likely suffer badly. The war would benefit no one but regional players and super powers seeking regime change in Tehran, which is unlikely to succeed, as was the case in Syria. Such a war would result in perhaps hundreds of thousands of deaths and cause any number of unforeseen consequences. Iran knows the strategy which the likes of Israel is attempting to employ against it, meaning that such a war could lead to retaliatory action committed against Tel Aviv.

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Israel in Secret Military Occupation of Azerbaijan for Attacks on Iran
As part of this alliance, Azerbaijan receives the most advanced military hardware from Israel and allows the Mossad/Google Jigsaw to establish a presence near the Iranian border
https://www.theinteldrop.org/2023/03/06/israel-in-secret-military-occupation-of-azerbaijan-for-attacks-on-iran/

An investigation by Israeli media outlet Haaretz released on 6 March has detailed the strategic relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, through which Tel Aviv has supplied Baku with billions of dollars worth of weapons in exchange for "oil and access to Iran."

The investigation cites publicly available aviation data and highlights that over the last seven years, "92 cargo flights flown by Azerbaijani Silk Way Airlines have landed at the Ovda airbase, the only airfield in Israel through which explosives may be flown into and out of the country."

Azerbaijan has reportedly allowed Israel's Mossad intelligence agency to establish a presence in the country to "monitor" the situation in Iran, the country's southern neighbor. It has also set up an airfield for Israel to strike Iranian nuclear facilities from its territory.

In exchange, Azerbaijan receives the "most advanced weapons," including ballistic missiles, air defense systems, and kamikaze drones.

As a result of this partnership, Azerbaijan has become Israel's largest oil supplier, while the latter has become the former's largest arms supplier.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are "discreet but close," said Rob Garverick, the head of the political and economic department in the US Embassy in Baku, in 2009. According to Haaretz, the nuclear documents allegedly stolen by Mossad operatives in Tehran in 2018 were "smuggled" to Israel through Azerbaijan.

Iranian officials called the alleged Israeli operation an "orchestrated play."

The Haaretz investigation comes one day after the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, told reporters on 4 March that any attack against nuclear facilities is "outlawed" when asked a question about Israeli threats against Iranian nuclear sites.

"Of course, we are allowed, and of course, we are doing this ... Nothing will prevent us from protecting our country," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response.

Israel's relationship with Azerbaijan comes within the context of a decades-long territorial dispute between Baku and neighboring Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the home of a majority of ethnic Armenians.

In 1988, the parliament in Nagorno-Karabakh called a referendum to be incorporated into Armenia, resulting in the start of a bloody war between the two countries. By 1992, Nagorno-Karabakh had declared itself an independent republic.

In 1994, three years after both countries declared independence from the Soviet Union, a Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting. However, the two sides have yet to come to a lasting agreement, and Nagorno-Karabakh has become a heavy militarized region where Azerbaijani and Armenian troops are divided by a 'contact line.'

With the Armenian side receiving political support from the Islamic Republic, and with Iran's close proximity to Azerbaijan, the country is expected to be a suitable partner for Israel.

"Each country finds it easy to identify with the other's geopolitical difficulties and both rank Iran as an existential security threat," Haaretz cited Garverick as saying in 2009.

In December last year, Baku said that it would not allow Israel to strike Iran from its territory.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O0DFR3IESY