Iran dismisses Azerbaijani president’s claims on drug trafficking

TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected recent claims by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that “Iran has worked with Armenia on organized drug trafficking,” Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Addressing a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States on Friday, Aliyev claimed that “Armenia and Iran have for years used the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to transport drugs to Europe,” according to the report.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that “unfortunately, despite the positive and private messages received from Baku in various phone calls, the Azeri government has an intention to make baseless media statements.”

Over the past years, Iran has had a leading role in fighting drug smuggling, which has been repeatedly confirmed by international bodies, Khatibzadeh added.

In the meantime, the spokesman noted that Iranian and Azeri nations enjoy strong cordial relations.

Also, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani dismissed Azerbaijan’s accusations, saying that “disregard to the principles of neighborhood and utterance of false and un-constructive statements are not a sign of goodwill and prudence.”

Tensions have mounted recently between Iran and Azerbaijan over the transportation of Iranian goods to Armenia, which partially passes through Azerbaijan soil.