Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan responded to comments of Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani

Iranian MFA Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani’s comment of April 7 regarding the declaration of 4 employees of the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan as personae non gratae due to their actions incompatible with diplomatic status and contradicting the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, is biased and emotional, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizade said.

“Regarding the claim of the Iranian side that the measure taken by Azerbaijan is at odds with the principles of neighborliness, we would like to note that illegal activity on the territory of Azerbaijan is not compatible with neighborly relations either and the measures taken in response are within the framework of the Vienna Convention,” he noted.

“Islamic solidarity must, in fact, rule out the use of religion for political purposes, interference in the internal affairs of Muslim neighbors, and, furthermore, does not include support for the military occupation of the territories of another Muslim country. Azerbaijan has always established relations with its neighbors based on the principle of reciprocity and has never been interested in their deterioration. Adequate measures taken by Azerbaijan have always been in response to provocative steps,” Hajizade stressed.

On April 6, four employees of the Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan – diplomats Mirmahdi Mirsalampour Sharif, Gurbanali Purmarjan Varjovi, Hadi Moghadam and Asghar Bahari Khosh Manzar – were declared persona non grata.

They were given 48 hours to leave the country.