Iran Holds Military Exercises Near Azerbaijani Border

TEHRAN — Iran has announced that it is conducting large-scale military exercises near the Azerbaijani border as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.

The commander of the Iranian army’s ground forces, Gen. Kioumars Heidari, said the drill would test weapons, assess the combat readiness of troops and demonstrate the country’s military capabilities. It would involve drones, attack helicopters, tanks and artillery.

The state-run IRNA new agency’s report did not specify the exact area the exercise would cover. But the drill, which starts on Friday, is bound to put Iranian troops and weapons close to the tense border with Azerbaijan — a prospect that has already raised alarm in Baku.

Tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan have been rising since Azerbaijani police and customs officials weeks ago began imposing a “road tax” on Iranian trucks shipping fuel and other goods to neighboring Armenia.

Azerbaijan gained control over a 21-kilometer section of the highway last December following an Armenian troop withdrawal from border areas along Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province. Azerbaijani officers deployed there began stopping and taxing on September 12 Iranian trucks delivering goods to and from Armenia. Many truck drivers have refused to pay the “road tax” reportedly ranging from $150 to $350 per vehicle.

Earlier this week, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he was stunned by the planned drill in an interview with Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

“Every country can carry out any military drill on its own territory. It’s their sovereign right. But why now, and why on our border?” he said, noting it was the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union that Iran was intending to stage such a show of force so close to its border.

Iran long has been skeptical of Azerbaijan over its ties to the West and deep military cooperation with the Islamic Republic’s archrival, Israel.

Azerbaijan and Israel have strengthened their military alliance in recent years, with Israeli-supplied high-tech drones helping to tilt the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Baku’s favor last year.

Iran’s foreign ministry drew a direct connection between the country’s military drill and Azerbaijan’s ties to Israel in remarks earlier this week.

“It’s clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not tolerate the presence of the Zionist regime, even demonstratively, near its borders and in this regard it will take any action it deems necessary for its national security,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency.