Azerbaijan voices concern as uncertainty looms over next US-Iran war Top official speaks to The National

Unpredictability over whether the US will strike Iran is raising concerns for neighbouring Azerbaijan, but it has not discussed the issue with Washington, a senior government official told The National.

“The situation is not predictable and you will have difficulty to properly assess all of the threats and challenges that can emanate from that,” Hikmat Hajiyev, head of foreign policy affairs for Azerbaijan’s presidency, said in an interview in Baku, Caliber.Az cites the paper.

Azerbaijan, an energy-rich country in the South Caucasus between Iran and Russia, feels like it is sandwiched between “two world wars”, said Mr Hajiyev.

“There is a Russia-Ukrainian war happening just over here, and also Iran and the Middle East, Israel and Iran confrontation and the United States’ involvement in that confrontation,” he said.

Fears of another US-Iran conflict grew on January 28 as Washington renewed threats of military strikes. President Donald Trump said a “massive armada” in the shape of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was heading towards Iran and, in a reference to Venezuela, alluded to attempts to take out the country’s leadership. The US captured that country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, in a raid earlier this month.

Mr Trump appeared to row back on threats of military action over a violent crackdown on protests in Iran this month, in which at least 6,500 people were killed, according to human rights monitors based outside the country. He is now framing renewed threats as a means to pressure Iran into reaching a nuclear deal with the US.

In Baku, Mr Hajiyev said Azerbaijan had not raised its concerns with Washington.

“We are not discussing this issue with the United States and they have also never reached out to us for discussing such a subject matter,” he said.

Baku has not officially opposed US military intervention in Iran and tries to maintain a neutral position towards its southern neighbour.

Mr Hajiyev said Azerbaijani officials had spoken in recent days with their counterparts in Iran, but said the security situation in that country “is not subject to the immediate interference of the Azerbaijan side, as we always refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries”.