Azerbaijan Denies Iranian Reports Of Tanks Massing On Border

AZERBAIJAN DENIES IRANIAN REPORTS OF TANKS MASSING ON BORDER
Joshua Kucera

EurasiaNet.org
May 2 2012
NY

Iranian media have reported that Azerbaijani tanks (made in Israel,
naturally) have massed on the border with Iran, which Azerbaijan
has called a “provocation.” This comes as tensions between the two
neighbors are high due to Azerbaijan’s close relationship with Israel,
which seems to be contemplating an attack on Iran.

Iranian television apparently started reporting the buildup of about
30 tanks in the middle of April, and residents of Imishli, on the
Azerbaijan side of the border, started contacting media in Baku to see
if the reports were true. One told Vesti.az, “We hear this news every
day. This information has been repeated so often that we necessarily
have to believe in it.”

Vesti.az contacted the Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense spokesman Eldar
Sabiroglu, who said it was a baseless provocation, and naturally
brought Armenia into it:

“This is nonsense and stupidity. Naturally, the Armenian media
immediately picked up the ‘information’ and raised such a howl, as if,
Azerbaijan was ‘going to war’ not with Iran, but Armenia. They should
worry that this day is not too far.”

Now, the commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces, Brig. Gen
Ahmad Reza Purdastan, has said that if there are Azerbaijani tanks
on the border, they pose no threat to Iran, reports Mehr News (via
BBC Monitoring):

In an interview with the agency, Purdastan noted that “I have no
information about this issue. However, even if so, it is the usual
thing and we do not have problems with our neighbours”.

“We do not think that this move of the Republic of Azerbaijan poses
threat to us,” he said, adding that the movement of tanks was probably
part of military drills.

So, that’s settled. But as long as Israel is threatening war with Iran,
we can probably expect regular attempts to drag Azerbaijan into it.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress