Azerbaijan on August 11 issued a protest note to neighbouring Iran over illegal entry of Iranian trucks into Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The protest note was presented to Iranian Ambassador Abbas Mousavi who was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on August 12.
“The note expresses our dissatisfaction over regular entries and exits of various vehicles for various purposes of the friendly Islamic Republic of Iran into Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, without Baku’s permission,” the ministry’s press service reported.
“The concern previously expressed to Iran verbally was now raised before the Iranian ambassador during the meeting.”
It was noted during the meeting that “Iran’s new administration will take real steps to put an end to the cases that run counter to close friendship and partnership relations between the two states.”
Azerbaijani media in June shared photos of trucks with Iranian numbers entering Khankandi city in Nagorno-Karabakh that is under observation of Russian peacekeeping forces.
A similar controversy was sparked in Azerbaijan in April 2020 over the delivery of fuel to Nagorno-Karabakh in Iranian trucks. The video showing the fuel trucks enter Nagorno-Karabakh even prompted a diplomatic row between Baku and Yerevan.
Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov had demanded that Tehran investigates how the Iranian trucks ended up in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Aragchi issued a statement back then describing the reports as “utterly false” and blaming the incidents on forces that seek to drive a wedge between Baku and Yerevan.
