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Iranian official warns Israel of ‘foreign influence’ amid tensions with Azerbaijan

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Iran said the show of force was necessary to deter meddling by the Jewish State.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council released a Hebrew language tweet on Saturday, which appeared to be a direct jab at alleged “Zionist activity” in Azerbaijan.

Ali Shamkhani wrote in Hebrew, “Powerful #Iran has always been benevolent to its neighbors & never posed a threat to them. Problems will be resolved with the cooperation of all countries in [the] region.”

“Any foreign influence is fruitless so we call on neighbors to be vigilant in this regard & to stay away from them.”

Shamkhani also tweeted the same message in English, Arabic, and Farsi.

The remarks come on the heels of tensions between the Islamic Republic and its north-western neighbor, Azerbaijan.

Speaking to Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen news network on Saturday, one-time Iranian diplomat Amir Mousavi announced that there were 1,000 Israeli operatives and 1,800 ISIS agents in Azerbaijan.

Mousavi did not present any evidence to back up the claim.

“It is no secret that Azerbaijan has full access to Israeli defense industry products,” said Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, at a conference in May 2021.

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Last week, Iran engaged in a full scale military drill along the border, over the objections of the Azerbaijani government.

Citing the close cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel, particularly in the military realm, Iran said the show of force was necessary to deter meddling by the Jewish State.

“We do not tolerate the presence and activity against our national security of the Zionist regime, or Israel, next to our borders,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told his Azerbaijani counterpart, Iranian state-run TV reported.

“And we will carry out any necessary action in this regard.”

Senior Iranian military commander Kioumars Heidari added that “we respect good neighborly relations but we do not tolerate the presence of Zionist regime elements and Islamic State terrorists in the region.”

“Our sensitivity toward the border has increased and the Zionist regime’s activities here is under our surveillance completely,” he said during the drill.