Armat Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Iran speaker calls for rapid settlement of Karabakh crisisIran speaker calls for rapid settlement of Karabakh crisis Tehran, 20 Feb, IRNA: Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said here onSaturday [20 Feb] that rapid settlement of Karabakh crisis is in theinterest of the regional countries. In a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Oqtay Asadov, who is inTehran at the head of a high-ranking parliamentary delegation,Larijani added that regional countries can take a crucial step insolving the crisis. Describing numerous cultural, historical, civilizational and religiouscommonalities between the two nations as a valuable asset forpromotion of bilateral ties, he noted that the two nations' will forforging brotherly relations is rooted in the history of bilateralties. "Iran's strategy is based on developing economic ties with itsneighbouring countries," he said, noting that given the vastcapabilities of the two countries in the fields of energy, industryand economy, the level of commercial exchanges can experience a sharprise in line with mutual interests. Larijani also said that promoting peace in the region is one of thestrategic policies of Iran and it will do its best to solve Karabakhcrisis. Asadov, for his part, said that his country also favours developmentof friendly and brotherly ties with Iran. Characterizing Iran as a country with a long history and rich culture,he noted that big powers are the main cause of Karabakh crisis. Source is Azeri.....but if True this is serious departure from neutrality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Iranian Deputy Speaker's statement mere view, non-officialIran’s official disposition over international policy can be only stated by Iranian President, Foreign Ministry and Foreign Minister, Ardeshir Javadi, the head of PR department of Iran’s Embassy to Armenia told Panorama.am referring to Iranian Deputy Speaker Muhammad Reza Bahonar’s statement. Trend News reported earlier Iran’s Deputy Speaker saying “Iran backs Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. In the international arena Iran has always made efforts and will continue those to return Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.” “The statement of other officials are mere views and are considered to be non-official statements,” the Embassy official said. He recalled Iran’s Ambassador’s statement saying Nagorno-Karabakh borders Iran, hence, Iran accepts that the freed territories are part of Nagorno-Karabakh. Source: Panorama.am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Azeris feel Iranian pressure Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/8516682.stm Published: 2010/02/16 08:11:08 GMT Members of Iran's Azeri minority have long complained that theirrights are stifled. They make up a quarter of Iran's population, butclaim the authorities are worried about an uprising by ethnic Azeris,as Tom Esslemont reports from the Azerbaijan-Iran border. By 0900 the border between Azerbaijan and Iran is jammed. Dozens of Azeri men and women with large plastic bags jostle tosqueeze through a grey metal gate to passport control - and beyondthat, Iran. Border guards shout at them in an attempt to keep them in line. It fails. For decades Azeris have crossed this fluid border to see family andfriends on the other side. More than 20 million Azeris live there andhave done since the territory was annexed under the Shah after asettlement with the Russian and, subsequently, Soviet leaders. These days the existence of a border between the two Azeri-dominatedlands is just taken for granted. "I go to market on the other side because the food is cheaper there,"says Gulchohra Hasanova as she emerges through the border gate, hershopping basket laden with nuts and fruit. She had returned from Iran with enough food to last her a few days.Hers is a story echoed by dozens who cross back and forth on a dailybasis in the border town of Astara. Iranians also come here to buy alcohol - the sale of which is bannedin their country. On the run But the freedom of movement is not open to everyone. Not far away in his damp, dark two-room apartment I meet Mohammad RzaLavai, an Iranian Azeri. As he tries to light the gas stove in his kitchen he tells me he is on the run. He says he fled Iran in September, claiming he had been persecuted forhis ethnicity. He shows me articles he wrote while he was there - printed in Azerinewspapers - in which he criticizes the Iranian government for their"treatment of the Azeris". "They did not like it when I used to write in Azeri and publish mywork in newspapers: I strongly criticised the regime," he says. "Soon the authorities called me in. I was jailed several times." He is visibly shaken and points out that he is now on medication. "In jail I was electrocuted and beaten," he continues. "There is nosuch thing as human rights in Iran." Awkward relationship It is impossible to verify Mr Lavai's story, and the Iranianconstitution does not ban Azeri - but I came across others withsimilar stories, who did not want to speak on record. ` There's no doubt that Sahar TV is the voice box of the Iranian authorities 'Khagani Ibadov Azeri journalistMany Azeris living in Iran often complain that their culture andlanguage are restricted there. Emin Huseynzade, Caucasus project manager at the think tankTransitions Online, says there has always been an awkward relationshipbetween Azerbaijan and Iran. "It started during the Shah period," he says. "And [it has become] atradition: to keep Azeris out of education, out of the [iranian]culture. "People were not allowed to give their son or daughter an Azeri name.The cultural life in Iran pushed Azeris to become Persians. That isthe main problem actually." Professor Ali Ansari of St Andrew's University, an expert in Iranianhistory, says it is seen differently by the Iranian authorities. "Azeri culture was suppressed in Iran but it has been tolerated and attimes encouraged for political purposes," he says. "However the Iranians are understandably very sensitive to any murmurof separatism and will crack down quickly on this." Anger through television These days there is another problem, in that Azerbaijan now suppliesIsrael with much of its oil. By way of a response, Iran appears to be showing its anger through television. When you turn on a television set in southern Azerbaijan it ispossible to pick up Iranian TV. Sahar TV broadcasts in the Azeri language. Its programmes regularlycontain criticism of Azeri policy. Men watch Sahar in tea rooms in towns like Astara and nearby Lenkoran. The television set is always on, though not necessarily tuned intoSahar all the time. Many say they only watch it out of curiosity, calling it Iranian propaganda. Azeri nationalism? Azeri journalist Khagani Ibadov says: "There's no doubt that Sahar TVis the voice box of the Iranian authorities. "The presenters often accuse Azerbaijan of being a Zionist regimebecause of our strong ties with Israel. It shows just how worried theyare about Azeri nationalism." Sahar TV has, on at least one occasion, doctored an image of the Azeriflag so that the crescent moon was replaced with the Star of David, Iwas told. As Mr Ibadov warms his hands on his glass of hot green tea he tells meSahar TV is state-controlled. "The programme presenters say everything that the Iranian governmentis too afraid to say directly," he says. Back at the border Azeris continue to cross freely into and out of Iran. In spite of everything Iran and Azerbaijan do enjoy bilateral ties andlast year their trade turnover was reported to be $700m (£450m). Lorries, emerging through thick soupy puddles that have collected atthe border, carry Iranian produce, destined for local markets, theAzeri capital, Baku - and beyond. The trade continues, but the stark differences between these twoneighbours remain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armat Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Azeris feel Iranian pressure Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/8516682.stm Published: 2010/02/16 08:11:08 GMT Members of Iran's Azeri minority have long complained that theirrights are stifled. They make up a quarter of Iran's population, butclaim the authorities are worried about an uprising by ethnic Azeris,as Tom Esslemont reports from the Azerbaijan-Iran border. By 0900 the border between Azerbaijan and Iran is jammed. Dozens of Azeri men and women with large plastic bags jostle tosqueeze through a grey metal gate to passport control - and beyondthat, Iran. Border guards shout at them in an attempt to keep them in line. It fails. For decades Azeris have crossed this fluid border to see family andfriends on the other side. More than 20 million Azeris live there andhave done since the territory was annexed under the Shah after asettlement with the Russian and, subsequently, Soviet leaders. These days the existence of a border between the two Azeri-dominatedlands is just taken for granted. "I go to market on the other side because the food is cheaper there,"says Gulchohra Hasanova as she emerges through the border gate, hershopping basket laden with nuts and fruit. She had returned from Iran with enough food to last her a few days.Hers is a story echoed by dozens who cross back and forth on a dailybasis in the border town of Astara. Iranians also come here to buy alcohol - the sale of which is bannedin their country. On the run But the freedom of movement is not open to everyone. Not far away in his damp, dark two-room apartment I meet Mohammad RzaLavai, an Iranian Azeri. As he tries to light the gas stove in his kitchen he tells me he is on the run. He says he fled Iran in September, claiming he had been persecuted forhis ethnicity. He shows me articles he wrote while he was there - printed in Azerinewspapers - in which he criticizes the Iranian government for their"treatment of the Azeris". "They did not like it when I used to write in Azeri and publish mywork in newspapers: I strongly criticised the regime," he says. "Soon the authorities called me in. I was jailed several times." He is visibly shaken and points out that he is now on medication. "In jail I was electrocuted and beaten," he continues. "There is nosuch thing as human rights in Iran." Awkward relationship It is impossible to verify Mr Lavai's story, and the Iranianconstitution does not ban Azeri - but I came across others withsimilar stories, who did not want to speak on record. ` There's no doubt that Sahar TV is the voice box of the Iranian authorities 'Khagani Ibadov Azeri journalistMany Azeris living in Iran often complain that their culture andlanguage are restricted there. Emin Huseynzade, Caucasus project manager at the think tankTransitions Online, says there has always been an awkward relationshipbetween Azerbaijan and Iran. "It started during the Shah period," he says. "And [it has become] atradition: to keep Azeris out of education, out of the [iranian]culture. "People were not allowed to give their son or daughter an Azeri name.The cultural life in Iran pushed Azeris to become Persians. That isthe main problem actually." Professor Ali Ansari of St Andrew's University, an expert in Iranianhistory, says it is seen differently by the Iranian authorities. "Azeri culture was suppressed in Iran but it has been tolerated and attimes encouraged for political purposes," he says. "However the Iranians are understandably very sensitive to any murmurof separatism and will crack down quickly on this." Anger through television These days there is another problem, in that Azerbaijan now suppliesIsrael with much of its oil. By way of a response, Iran appears to be showing its anger through television. When you turn on a television set in southern Azerbaijan it ispossible to pick up Iranian TV. Sahar TV broadcasts in the Azeri language. Its programmes regularlycontain criticism of Azeri policy. Men watch Sahar in tea rooms in towns like Astara and nearby Lenkoran. The television set is always on, though not necessarily tuned intoSahar all the time. Many say they only watch it out of curiosity, calling it Iranian propaganda. Azeri nationalism? Azeri journalist Khagani Ibadov says: "There's no doubt that Sahar TVis the voice box of the Iranian authorities. "The presenters often accuse Azerbaijan of being a Zionist regimebecause of our strong ties with Israel. It shows just how worried theyare about Azeri nationalism." Sahar TV has, on at least one occasion, doctored an image of the Azeriflag so that the crescent moon was replaced with the Star of David, Iwas told. As Mr Ibadov warms his hands on his glass of hot green tea he tells meSahar TV is state-controlled. "The programme presenters say everything that the Iranian governmentis too afraid to say directly," he says. Back at the border Azeris continue to cross freely into and out of Iran. In spite of everything Iran and Azerbaijan do enjoy bilateral ties andlast year their trade turnover was reported to be $700m (£450m). Lorries, emerging through thick soupy puddles that have collected atthe border, carry Iranian produce, destined for local markets, theAzeri capital, Baku - and beyond. The trade continues, but the stark differences between these twoneighbours remain.I do believe Iran is getting scared of Israeli backed revolt in the North by furks.Lot of Armenians don't know that Isreal provides intelligence,military hardware (latest unman flying drones)to Azerbaijan.They are getting all their oil from Azeris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boghos Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 (edited) Iran is becoming our enemy if one believes that it was ever our friend. Such concept doesn't exist and has as much validity as Russia being Armenia's closest friend. Edited February 24, 2010 by Boghos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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