AZARI FOREIGN MINISTER LEFT IRAN EMPTY HANDS
By Our Diplomatic Correspondent Nina Kamran
PARIS 16TH March. (IPS) Azari Foreign Minister Velayat Qolyef left Iran Thursday empty hands at the end of a three days official visit during which he met senior Iranian officials including President Mohammad Khatami and traded with them nice and polite words, but no concrete pledge on any issue of major difference, according to Iranian diplomatic sources.
In fact, the two neighbours have as much as differences as they have common bounds, like religion, Shi'ism, a language, Azari Turkish, that is spoken in Iran by more than 20 million people and family relationship.
Alongside of fourteen other Caucasian cities that were part of mainland Iran, Azarbaijan, then named Aran, was occupied and cut from Iran by the end of nineteenth century by Tsarist Russia and then the Soviet Union.
First of all, Islamic Iran, Israel's staunchest enemy in the Middle East, is very angry and apprehensive at the close and friendly relations that exists in military, security and economic fields between Baku and Tel-Aviv.
As similar ties also links Israel with Turkey, Azarbaijan's main ally and protector and with Baku being suspected in Tehran of offering military bases to the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Iran feels itself being surrounded by hostile nations and their sophisticated spying facilities.
Finally, Tehran resents with bitterness the recent agreements signed, under Washington's pressures and blessings, between Turkemenistan, Azarbaijan, Turkey and Georgia for the construction of a pipeline that would transport Turkemenistan's energy to the world markets bypassing Iran, depriving the country from billions of revenues from royalties and transit fees.
For it's part, Azarbaijan do not forgive the Islamic Republic being the main military and economic supporter of the Orthodox Armenia, Baku's traditional foe in the region that has occupied and annexed the Armenian enclave of Nagorni Karabakh following a bloody war.
To offset the Israeli-Turkish-Azari's pact, Iran has entered an odd alliance with Armenia and Greece.
Azarbaijan, a secular State, also accuses the ruling Iranian clerics to be behind religious-motivated disturbances and subversion undertaken by Azari clerics.
During meetings with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi and President Khatami, Qolyev was "assured" of Iranian's continued efforts to find a "lasting and equitable" solution for the Nagorni Karabakh conflict pitting Azarbaijan against Armenia.
Referring indirectly to Azarbaijan's security and military relations with Israel and Turkey, President Khatami told Qoliev that that security of the region was "intertwined among the regional states and related to the whole region".
''Our interest is best realised under a stable and lasting security and no one, but ourselves, can establish security in our region'', Mr. Khatami pointed out, underlining the "need" for the two countries officials to be "aware" of the bilateral interests, adding ''there are some who do not wish to see cordial relations between the two countries'', according to the to the Iranian official news agency IRNA.
On the thorny subject of exploiting Caspian Sea's natural resources, Kharrazi once again reiterated the old Iranian philosophy, insisting that the five littoral states should adopt a legal regime consistent with the treaty of 1925 and the treaty of 1941.
But this was when the huge lake was divided between Iran and the Soviet Union whereas it is shared between the two original signatories plus Azarbaijan, Turkemenistan and Khazakhstan.
As if the whole issue depended on Azarbaijan and ignoring deliberately the recent signing of Turkemenistan-Cihan pipe line, Kharrazi emphasised the need for setting up various oil pipelines and said expert studies have indicated that laying oil pipeline through Iran is the safest and most economical for the transfer of energy to the world market, hoping that the economical aspect will eventually overcome political considerations.
The two sides studies mutual co-operation at energy sector, transmission of electricity from Iran to Nakhichevan, the Azari enclave of Armenia and the debts of the Azeri government to the Islamic republic, oil and gas, lying of oil pipeline, sales, swap and transfer of oil and gas, co-operation in transportation and construction of bridges and roads as well as establishment of air link between the two countries were also discussed during the visit, without pronouncing any concrete agreement. ENDS IRAN AZARBAIJAN 16300