Unprofessionalism on Iranian TV: Host fuels hatred against Azerbaijan
By Tural Heybatov
It's surprising how quickly Iran gets caught up in anti-Azerbaijani hysteria, and how fast it all spirals out of control. What’s even more shocking is that these flare-ups often come out of nowhere.Take, for example, a recent incident involving Hossein Hosseini, a host on Iran’s state TV channel Ofogh . During a broadcast, he made shockingly offensive and inappropriate remarks about Azerbaijan. It was a blatant display of poor political and cultural awareness. Initially, it seemed like Hosseini was simply responding to an Azerbaijani colleague, but he crossed the line, sparking a scandal. Even propaganda has its limits, but Hosseini clearly didn’t get the memo.
Hossein Hosseini, a host on Iran's state-run TV channel Ofogh, made the following statement during a broadcast : "If you don’t set things straight, some people will make up their own stories. A Baku TV host claimed that all of Iran belongs to them! Before, they used to say that Azerbaijan and Ardabil were theirs too. Let the Baku host know that if Iran makes the decision, we’ll soon be airing the weather forecast for Northern Azerbaijan on our channel!"
An Iranian #television host has sparked a diplomatic row with comments suggesting that neighbouring #Azerbaijan will soon be unified with #Iran. pic.twitter.com/emPAJ06ocQ
— News.Az (@news_az) September 12, 2024
Hosseini also voiced his hope that what he referred to as "former Azerbaijan" would soon reunite with Iran.
Today, Iran is once again pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable. The latest wave of anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric revolves around the Zangezur Corridor.
It’s no secret that Iran has quietly backed Armenia’s expansionist ambitions against Azerbaijan. Various reasons have been floated for this, including Azerbaijan’s close relationship with "predominantly Sunni Turkey," which plays into the long-standing geopolitical rivalry between Ankara and Tehran. For Iran, religion plays a key role, and Azerbaijan is seen as a "traitor." However, this is hard to justify when you consider that Armenia, which Iran supports, has destroyed Islamic mosques and cultural monuments during its occupation. And that’s not even mentioning the hundreds of mosques demolished within Armenia itself. This kind of selective logic, where political interests are dressed up in religious justifications, is a hallmark of Iranian policy—and we’re seeing it play out in the fuss over the Zangezur Corridor.
Right after the Second Karabakh War, Iran opposed the construction of routes to Nakhchivan through Armenia’s territory. Armenia, of course, jumped on this support to stall the project. For reasons that only make sense to Iran’s ruling regime, they viewed restoring a Soviet-era road as a violation of borders and a threat to the geopolitical balance. Even Armenia didn’t come up with such a far-fetched argument!
Tensions ramped up again when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Azerbaijan. During his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, Putin voiced support for the project. Shortly afterward, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs echoed this stance. Iran didn’t dare confront Putin directly, but they did summon the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry (though Russia downplayed it as an "invitation"). Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a fiery statement, declaring that "any threat to the territorial integrity of our neighbors or border changes, whether in the north, south, east, or west, is absolutely unacceptable and a red line for Iran."
Since early September, the Iranian side has been unable to keep quiet. Every day, some official or expert feels the need to comment, talking about Iran’s many "red lines." These red lines started popping up two years ago when tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran first surfaced. The friction stemmed from Iran’s difficulty accepting Azerbaijan’s victory in the war—and Tehran's attempts to undermine it. Iran’s frustrations have led to several hostile acts. Just last January, things hit a boiling point when there was a terrorist attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran. Before that, Iran staged military drills along the border, including provocative crossings of the Aras River. Anti-Azerbaijani sentiments in Iran were off the charts, with threats being thrown at Baku and inflammatory videos being produced.
The Iranian media’s lack of political maturity was glaring during this time. Let’s not forget an article published in a magazine linked to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Written by a university professor and diplomat, Ehsan Movahedian, the article was filled with vitriol aimed at Azerbaijan’s leadership. The piece made outrageous claims, branding Baku as "ungrateful" and even boasting about how Iran supposedly helped Azerbaijan during the First Karabakh War, claiming that without Iran, "Armenia would have reached Baku." What help is he talking about? Everyone knows that Iran backed Armenia during both Karabakh wars because the occupation worked to its advantage. In fact, not just Armenians, but even Iranian citizens profited from looting Azerbaijani lands. And during the 44-day war, Iranian forces illegally crossed the border in an attempt to slow Azerbaijan’s army.
Movahedian’s article reads more like the ramblings of a disgruntled taxi driver than a thoughtful diplomatic analysis. Fueled by bitterness, he accused Azerbaijan’s president of "opening the gates of hell" and predicted "dark days" for the country. He also proudly declared that Iran would show its might, just like it did in 2001 when an Iranian warship and fighter jet interfered with BP's operations at several oil fields. Conveniently, he left out the fact that Turkish fighter jets quickly arrived on the scene, forcing the Iranian forces, who had only been brave enough to harass scientists on a research vessel, to disappear without a trace.
Here’s the irony in all of this: Azerbaijan continues to build communication routes to Nakhchivan through Iran. So, is all this noise about the Zangezur Corridor really just an attempt by Iran to eliminate competition?
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