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Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stated on Monday that his country's relations with Iran had improved after the two countries quarreled over what he described as the unauthorized cargo coming from Iran to Nagorno Karabakh and Baku's apparent "rapprochement" with "Israel."

Azeri-Press Agency (APA) quoted Bayramov at an end-of-year briefing as saying, "It is not a secret that there has been tension, certain disagreements between two countries a while ago, but it has been removed within a short period of time. A sincere meeting has been held between Iranian and Azerbaijani heads of state in Ashgabat, a wide range of issues have been discussed."

Azerbaijan sent a diplomatic message to Iran's ambassador in August protesting cargo trucks passing across Iran's territory without Azerbaijan's authorization on their way to Karabakh, since it considers it as a part of its national territory.

Iran accused Azerbaijan of providing a base of intel operations for "Israel." Tehran accused Tel Aviv of exploiting the Karabakh conflict to gain access to Iran's borders via Azerbaijan, while also attempting to inflame tensions between Baku and Tehran.

A new chapter in Iranian-Azeri relations: Iranian FM

On December 22, The leaders of Iran and Azerbaijan expressed their willingness to expand bilateral relations, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Interesting & fruitful exchange took place w/Foreign Minister of #Iran @Amirabdolahian. We discussed bilateral cooperation agenda, regional developments &future perspectives. We’ll spare no effort to further enhance our relations aimed at ensuring peace & stability in the region. pic.twitter.com/4IvuS4wOLd

— Jeyhun Bayramov (@bayramov_jeyhun) December 22, 2021

"The relations between the two countries have begun a new chapter and this will have positive effects for the two countries," Tehran's Foreign Minister explained.

"We are ready to finalize all previous projects and establish new agreements between the two countries," he asserted.

Raisi-Aliyev meeting in Ashgabat

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, near the end of November.

During that meeting, Aliyev said, "The friendship and brotherhood of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan were reaffirmed, and the need to take further steps to develop relations in all political, economic, commercial, and cultural fields was emphasized."

"The agenda of bilateral cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan is broad, and I am confident that this cooperation will have good results," he underlined.

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