Iran Foreign Ministry refutes Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's drug trafficking claims

The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied the recent accusations by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev as the country's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh on Friday refuted the claims and described the accusations as "fake" and "surprising", reported Tasnim News Agency. The statement of the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson comes after Aliyev had accused Armenia and Iran of using the Nagorno-Karabakh region for "transporting drugs to Europe."

Saeed Khatibzadeh stated that irrespective of "positive" messages they got from Baku in phone calls, the Azeri government wanted to make "baseless media statements", reported Tasnim News Agency. He added that the statements would be given the response "appropriately". As per the Tasnim News agency report, he underlined that Iran and Azerbaijan have 'strong cordial relations'.

Furthermore, Khatibzadeh highlighted the commitment of Iranian authorities in combatting drug trafficking. He insisted that their efforts in the fight against drug trafficking were confirmed by international bodies, reported Tasnim News Agency. Khatibzadeh added that in their actions against narcotics for more than 40 years, thousands of Iranian police officers have died and a number of police personnel have been injured. 

Ali Shamkhani responds to Azerbaijan President accusation

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani on Friday responded to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev accusations. Taking to Twitter, Ali Shamkhani stated that the accusation against a country which the world has recognised as a "hero" for the battle against drugs has "no effect". Shamkhani in the tweet said, "Ignoring the neighborhood principles & making false statements cant be a sign of a tact. Accusation against a country that the world recognizes as a hero in the fight against drugs has no effect other than invalidating the speaker's words. Beware of the devil's costly traps."

The statement of the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson and Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani comes after the statement of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, reported Tasnim News Agency. Speaking during a videotaped address at a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of the Heads of State in Minsk on Friday, Aliyev accused Iran of using Nagorno-Karabakh for "transporting drugs to Europe". He also mentioned that the volume of heroin seized by his country along the Azerbaijani-Iranian border has doubled, in comparison to the same time in past years.  

Image: AP