Dialogue, trust, cooperation Following the Azerbaijani presidential aide’s visit to Iran

Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, has once again visited Iran. This recent visit is by no means his first, as tracking each engagement is essential to understanding the overall trajectory of Azerbaijan-Iran relations.

In this context, Hajiyev’s February visit to Iran was especially significant. During that visit, the Azerbaijani presidential aide held a series of meetings with high-ranking officials of that country, including the President of the Islamic Republic, Masoud Pezeshkian; Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Akbar Ahmadian; Chairman of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Kamal Kharrazi; Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs, Mehdi Sanaei; and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

It was a very fruitful visit, during which the parties openly discussed all the existing issues in bilateral relations, choosing the path to resolve them and elevate Azerbaijan-Iran ties to a qualitatively new level.

In turn, in April, there was an official visit of the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, to Azerbaijan. He was accompanied by a delegation of 120 people, which included representatives of the private sector, members of the Iran-Azerbaijan parliamentary friendship group, as well as governors of four northwestern Iranian provinces. In Baku, it was declared that the two countries have set a goal to increase their bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion dollars per year within the next five years.

Moreover, the President of Iran made an important statement in an interview with AZTV: “What should two neighbouring and brotherly peoples do? We can unite and establish cooperation to build strong ties between our countries.”

But that’s not all. “We recognize the right of you, Azerbaijan, and the dear Azerbaijani people to Karabakh and other territories that Azerbaijan must reclaim. We believe that Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan, and we respect this,” said Pezeshkian during a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, held with an expanded delegation.

This is an extremely important statement, which also came as a thunderbolt out of the blue for official Yerevan and the openly revanchist forces in Armenia. Today, we are witnessing a new stage in Azerbaijan-Iran relations.

“Our task is to advance the existing relations. I am confident that on the basis of friendship and brotherhood, we will discuss and implement prospects for further rapprochement between our countries,” Hikmet Hajiyev stated in an interview with the Iranian news agency Tasnim.

He also spoke about this in his speech at the “Dialogue Forum” in Tehran.

“We are a prosperous and developing country in the Eurasian region. We maintain multilateral cooperation with Türkiye, Russia, and Iran. We support multilateral cooperation,” said the Azerbaijani presidential aide, also emphasising the importance of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, because “the principle of Islamic solidarity is important to us.”

In this context, it is worth touching upon the topic of the North-South transport corridor, which, as emphasised by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the April meeting with the President of Iran, will bring great benefits and advantages to all countries participating in it. Thus, our country is strengthening its position as a transport hub between East and West, North and South, and the recent visit of Hikmet Hajiyev to Iran is yet another step in this direction.

It is significant that, as during his February visit to Iran, the Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan held a meeting this time as well with the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Akbar Ahmadian.

Moreover, it is quite significant that Hikmet Hajiyev’s visit took place against the backdrop of a very important event — the joint military exercises “Araz,” which have become one of the vivid examples of strengthening military ties between Azerbaijan and Iran.

These manoeuvres, conducted on the Azerbaijani territories liberated from occupation, are aimed at improving cooperation between the armies and enhancing defence capabilities. They include various stages such as the protection of strategic facilities and coordination of actions in crisis situations.

The joint “Araz” exercises play a crucial role in ensuring security not only for Azerbaijan and Iran but also for the entire South Caucasus and the Middle East. They stand as proof of mutual trust and the readiness of the two states to act together in maintaining stability in the region — something that official Baku has always advocated.

Thus, as we can see, Azerbaijan-Iran relations have reached a qualitatively new level. This is the result of extensive and important work that disarms those forces who had hoped to realise their plans by sowing discord between Baku and Tehran.