TEHRAN – Azerbaijan's State Security Service has claimed that it had detained an “illegal armed group” that consists of Azerbaijani citizens and is backed by Iran.

“Azerbaijan's State Security Service has exposed an illegal armed group consisting of Azerbaijani citizens, secretly established under the control of the Iranian special services by inculcating radical religious ideas,” the Azerbaijani Trend news agency said, citing the Service. 

Trend claimed that the members of the group received military training, among other things, offered by Iran.

The allegations come at a time when Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan are moving beyond bilateral tensions that erupted after the 2020 Karabakh war. 

Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan spoke over the phone and discussed some bilateral issues as well as issues of mutual interest in the regional and international arenas.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, referred to the good relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan and underlined the recent meeting between the presidents of the two countries in the Kazakh capital, Astana, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

He also emphasized the territorial integrity of the countries in the region, including the Republic of Azerbaijan, adding, “We believe that the presence of foreigners in the region complicates the situation and we are against their presence.”

Amir Abdollahian further said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran pursues the right solution to the disputes in the Caucasus in the 3+3 meetings (between the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia — Russia, Turkey, Iran) and regional mechanisms and will always continue its efforts to solve the problems between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

The top Iranian diplomat pointed out, “We consider the security of the region as an interconnected issue, and we consider the security of the Republic of Azerbaijan as the security of the region and Iran.”

He added, “We have declared our opposition to any deployment of foreign forces in the region. We consider it against regional peace, stability and cooperation.”

For his part, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov described the direct and continuous communication between the foreign ministers of the two countries as an indication of the depth of relations between Tehran and Baku and said, “We value and respect these relations.”

The foreign minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan further thanked his Iranian counterpart for the phone call and for explaining the results of his trip to Armenia and praised the Islamic Republic of Iran for its efforts to help restore regional peace and stability.

Bayramov also expressed his opposition to the deployment of foreign forces in the region and emphasized the continuation of regional cooperation, including in the form of the 3+3 meetings, to help maintain stability and security in the region.