Tehran-Baku ties became tense over Israel: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Gordon Duff, a senior editor with Veterans Today from Ohio, about Iran President Hassan Rouhani’s two-day state visit to Azerbaijan at the head of a high-ranking delegation.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview:

Press TV: Give us your thoughts on the recent meeting between President Rouhani and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. The ties between Iran and Azerbaijan have been a bumpy road but expanding the cooperation between the two neighbors will definitely be very constructive for the region.

Duff: Well, there's been one other player involved from the first and that's been Israel. The Israelis were paid 12 billion dollars by the Azerbaijani government to build a military for them. The Israelis took advantage of that; infiltrated the military establishment of Azerbaijan; from 2009-2012 they brought in a fairly significant number of combat aircraft which they stationed in Azerbaijan; they built a drone base in Azerbaijan and planned on using it as a base of attack.

In 2012, two Azeri officers left the military, crossed the border into Iran; broke the story and told of the Israeli base. From that point, the relationship [between Iran and Azerbaijan] has been a very rocky one, but Iran has made every effort to bring Azerbaijan back to reality, to build constructive ties and to break that stranglehold. This has been a continuing issue with the renewal of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

There have been discussions not only with the regional partners but in Moscow between [Russian President] Putin and [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu. It's been a significant area they've discussed and the major issue there is that the Israelis get out of the Azeri politics, and [that] allowed economic development to continue which is going to be vital to the area. And the point of course is that Iran is the primary military force within the area and whatever Azerbaijan believes that they can do with or without Israeli help, Azerbaijan absolutely has to have total respect for Tehran because Tehran can put a stop to any mischief very very quickly.

Press TV: Also let's talk about the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis which the Iranian president also alluded to. He stressed that the crisis needs to be resolved through dialogue. Do you think that option is still on the table for Azerbaijan and Armenia or has it been overexercised to the point where the issue of dialogue might not be a viable option for them anymore?

Duff: Well, one of the dynamics ... over the past few weeks is the renewed relationship between Turkey and Russia and this is another area where a foreign power has stepped in. There has been a long hatred between Turkey and the Armenian people, which dates back to the genocide of 1915 and the Turks had taken an active role in pushing this conflict forward.

They've been active against the Kurds, against the Armenians. They have pushed others to do the same and they’ve had a significant role and I believe that that role of the Turks is going to end and with that the chance for peace, the chance for constructive talks are going to increase and that we can look for a good outcome here.

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