Iran bristles at Azerbaijan for hosting gathering of separatists

Iran has lodged a protest with Azerbaijan, an ally of the United States and Israel, for hosting a conference of groups seeking independence for the Islamic republic's 20 million ethnic Azeri minority.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi yesterday summoned Azerbaijan's ambassador to Tehran, Cavansir Axundov, telling him that "such actions can seriously damage" ties between the two neighbours, according to Iran's state-run Press TV news channel.

Speakers at the conference, held last week at a hotel in central Baku, the Azeri capital, said Iran is in the throes of a deep economic and political crisis because of western sanctions against the Gulf state's nuclear programme. Ethnic Azeris were urged to seize the opportunity to build a state in the north-west provinces bordering the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The conference was organised by the South Azerbaijan National Liberation Front, bringing together groups and organisations seeking greater rights and independence for a community that makes up about a quarter of Iran's 75 million population. The event also featured academics, Azeri parliament members and former officials, including Nasib Nasibli, the country's ex-ambassador to Iran. No current Azeri government officials took part. Mr Araqchi described as "provocative" the expression of "intimidating and politically-motivated anti-Iran comments" at the conference in Baku. "Such moves only serve the interests of Israeli circles," he said, according to Press TV.

The nations, which share a 756-kilometre border, have been locked in disputes since the former Soviet republic won independence in 1991. Iran has pressured Azerbaijan to cut ties with Israel and western nations and opposed the entry of companies like BP Plc, Statoil ASA, Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp. in energy projects on the Caspian Sea.

Last May, Iran recalled its ambassador to Azerbaijan for consultations for several weeks after Islamic "sanctities" were insulted at a rally in Baku.

Azerbaijan, which has been buying drones and missile-defence systems from Israel, has accused Iran of helping arch-foe Armenia in the war over the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh after the Soviet collapse two decades ago. The government of President Ilham Aliyev last year jailed dozens of Azeri citizens for their alleged involvement in an Iranian-backed plot to carry out a wave of terror attacks on western and Israeli targets in Baku.

Iran's Shiite religion is shared by two-thirds of Azerbaijan's population of more than 9 million.