Iran summons Azeri envoy to protest alleged ‘Mossad base’

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Azerbaijan’s ambassador to protest alleged Israeli intelligence activity in the oil-rich Caucasian state, the Iranian state-run news agency IRNA reported Sunday. It said the ministry handed a protest note to Azeri envoy Javanshir Akhundov and demanded that his government prevent the Mossad from using its territory to launch operations against Iran. Akhundov told his Iranian hosts that he would relay the letter to his government.

In an interview published in The London Times on Sunday, a man claiming to be a Mossad agent based in Azerbaijan said that Israel’s foreign intelligence agency had set up a base in the country, which shares a border with Iran. The man, identified in the article only as “Shimon,” told the newspaper that dozens of Israeli intelligence agents were working out of the base.

“This is ground zero for intelligence work,” he said. “Our presence here is quiet, but substantial. We have increased our presence in the past year, and it gets us very close to Iran. This is a wonderfully porous country.”

The IRNA report said “terrorists” linked to the killings of Iranian nuclear scientists had escaped to Israel through Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Sunday that chances of a successful Israeli attack on Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons program were not high.

“There could be dire political consequences to such an attack,” said de Maiziere. He went on to emphasize the importance of the sanctions in place against the Iranian regime, saying these could stop its nuclear weapons program.

On Sunday, Iranian state TV reported that the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had urged the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, to continue the resistance against Israel and promised support. Khamenei told Haniyeh that Iran would always stand by the Palestinian “resistance” against Israel and warned him against “compromisers.”

“Always be wary of infiltration by the compromisers in a resistance organization, which will gradually weaken it,” Khamenei was quoted as telling Haniyeh. “We have no doubt about your resistance and that of many of your brothers, and the people only have this expectation of you,” said Khamenei, reaffirming that Iran would always “stand by the people of Palestine and the resistance movement.”

Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, was quoted as telling Haniyeh that people expected Palestinian resistance to continue.

“Resistance attracts people, and it is a big resource that should be protected,” he said.

Earlier this month, Khamenei affirmed that Iran was providing support to Hamas -- a well-known policy, but one that Iranian leaders rarely state explicitly.

Haniyeh was quoted as saying that Iran was a “strategic reserve” for the Palestinians, and that Hamas would continue a strategy consisting of the “liberation of all the Palestinian lands, the pursuit of resistance and the rejection of peace talks.”

Haniyeh also met Ahmadinejad on Sunday. The Iranian president was quoted as saying that support for “Palestine” was a task for all Muslims. “As its duty, the Iranian nation has stood next to the oppressed nation of Palestine.”

The remarks come as Hamas’ top leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, leads what appears to have been a political shift. He has pursued reconciliation with his Western-backed rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a longtime proponent of negotiations with Israel, and has argued that non-violent protests are an important tool in resisting Israel.

Haniyeh arrived in Iran on Friday for a three-day visit. The visit was seen an attempt by the Palestinian terrorist movement to avoid snubbing Iran, the group’s longtime patron, even as it cultivates ties with wealthy Gulf states.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו