Report: Iran blames Israel for Azeri independence movement

Tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran have been escalating recently. The locus of the current tensions is Tabriz, a city located in northern Iran. The city and all its surrounding area is populated by close to 25 million ethnic Azeris, who wish to break away from Iranian rule and create a separate state of South Azerbaijan.

There has been another wave of protest against the Iranian regime recently in the city. The regime has suppressed demonstrations and conducted a wave of arrests. Iranian security forces resorted to shooting at the protestors, killing dozens.

Rabbi Zamir Isayev, rabbi of the Georgian Sephardic community in Baku said that Tabriz “is a city of great importance to the Iranian regime, with their fear being that should the city and its surrounding area declare independence, the entire country will be affected.”

“The demonstrators have recently been employing creative methods and have attempted various elaborate means to sway public opinion in their favor. Activists have even begun hanging numerous signs displaying the flag of independent South Azerbaijan. Leaflets have also been stuck on surfaces at administrative and public facilities under the control of the security forces,” he said.

Rabbi Isayev added: “Despite the attempts of Revolutionary Guard agents to put an end to the distribution of leaflets and signs, the distributors have yet to be identified. Moreover, despite Iranian attempts to destroy the colorful leaflets distributed through the night, they end up in other locations the following day. In addition to placing the leaflets in various locations, the activists also video the process and upload it to the Telegram Messenger application network.”

“The Iranian regime continues to blame foreign countries for the incitement of the residents of Tabriz, in particular, the State of Israel and the Jews of course, who have been blamed for inciting the protests. This accusation has been repeatedly broadcast through the official Telegram channel of the Revolutionary Guard.

“Tabriz is a historical place for the Azeri citizens,” said Rabbi Isayev. “Tehran blames the Jews and Israel for inciting protests and rebellion, but the Azeris don’t buy into this propaganda. Last year, the Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan, George Dick, tweeted a message in his Twitter account that particularly upset the Iranians. In his tweet, he wrote about a book he had read, which recounts the historical ties between Azerbaijan and its culture with the city of Tabriz, insinuating that the city belongs to the Azeri nation and not Iran.”

“The tweet caused a violent response from the Iranian ambassador in Baku, Seyed Abbas Mousavi, who began threatening the Israeli ambassador. He wrote, “Just to let this young man know, our beloved Iranian Tabriz is acknowledged and recognized in Iran’s proud history. It seems that this pompous, evil Zionist will be buried by the zealous people of Tabriz. Never cross our red line!”

Rabbi Isayev stated that “even at the forty-fourth [anniversary] celebrations of the founding of the Ayatollah regime, they called for the death of the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, labeling him a ‘Zionist agent’ who promotes close relations with the Jewish state. Relations with Israel and the Jewish communities of Azerbaijan are only getting closer and stronger and no power in the world can defeat these mighty nations.”