Iran Supported Azerbaijan During the Artsakh War

In January 2016, the Iranian website Azarhia.org released a film on Iran’s support to Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

The published video shows how the former General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Mansour Haqiqatpour in military uniform stands next to the former President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and monitors the military exercises of the Azerbaijani military. In another part of the video, Haqiqatpour speaks to Azerbaijani servicemen.

“Recently, Azerbaijani officials have denied the fact that Iran had provided support to Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh war, but other evidence will be presented in the near future,” the Iranian website writes.

It should be noted that Mansour Haqiqatpour now holds the position of Deputy Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Mejlis (Parliament) of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In an interview, Haqiqatpour said that during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, he had been a special advisor to Heydar Aliyev. Earlier, he had held the position of the head of the Ardabil provincial administration.

Recall that Azerbaijani parliamentarian and a representative of the ruling party Siyavush Novruzov recently said that a criminal case had been opened in Azerbaijan against M. Haqiqatpour. Novruzov accused the Iranian parliamentarian of providing the Armenian authorities with information about the Azerbaijani armed forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Mansur Haqiqatpour said in response:

“I really want to talk about who really is a traitor. Where were you and other parliamentarians of Azerbaijan during the war? How many of you and your children participated in this war? Why were young people not of Azerbaijani nationality yet committed to the cause killed from the rear? This is actually a question from the martyrs-parents – why were their sons killed in the rear?”

Note that earlier, former commander of the IRGC Mohsen Rezaee commented on these hostilities: “Then, I have personally ordered the delivery of ammunition to Azerbaijan and the organization of special military exercises for the Azerbaijani armed forces.”

Iranian military advisers training Azerbaijan Forces during Karabakh War