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Expert in Iran Armen Israyelyan has reflected on the recent incident at the Azerbaijani-Iranian border against the backdrop of recent accumulation of armament at the Nagorno Karabakh Line of Contact.

Israyelyan reminds that on June 21 a shootout was recorded at the Iranian-Azerbaijani border section near Baykhanli village of Jalilabad district. Azerbaijani State Border Service reported that border guards detected a group of armed persons from Iran trying to cross the border into Azerbaijan opening fire at the Azeri border guards.

During the incident, the head of the Azerbaijani border patrol received several bullet wounds, while the violators fled the scene. While the Azerbaijani media was actively praising the bravery of the wounded border commander, the Iranian authorities dismissed Azerbaijani reports, saying the incident occurred within the territory of Azerbaijan.

“Notably, the incident took place or at least it was reported the next day after the visit of Azerbaijani minister of internal affairs to Israel, where the latter discussed issues of regional security with his Israeli counterpart.” Israyelyan wrote on his Facebook.

In the experts’ words, the Iranian side additionally took diplomatic measures following the news that Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman canceled a visit to Azerbaijani where the Iranian defense minister also had a scheduled trip to attend the military parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces.

Instead, the Iranian side will be represented by the country’s deputy defense minister.