Azerbaijan denies presence of Israeli military on its soil

Following Iranian claims, the Caucasus country of Azerbaijan denied that the occupation state of Israel has a military presence on its soil, news agencies have reported.

Tehran’s claims came on Thursday, following the launch of Iranian military drills at Azerbaijan’s border, raising tensions with Baku.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Azerbaijan’s ambassador that his country would not tolerate Israel’s presence or activity “next to our borders” and vowed to take any necessary action.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Leyla Abdullayeva on Monday said: “We reject the allegations of any third party’s presence near the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, such allegations are totally baseless.”

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticised the Iranian claims in an interview with Anadolu news agency, asking “why now, and why on our border?”

OPINION: What is going on between Iran and Azerbaijan?