Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Saeed Khatibzadeh has refuted Ilham Aliyev’s allegations that the Iranian side is involved in organizing trafficking of narcotics through the Caucasus, referring to the allegations as false.

“Such allegations only serve the interests of the Zionist regime in order to have an impact on the fraternal relations between Iran and Azerbaijan,” he said.

Highlighting the leading role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the fight against illicit trafficking of narcotics, Khatibzadeh emphasized that thousands of Iranians have died during the fight against this and that relevant international organizations have affirmed Iran’s persistent efforts in this direction several times.

The Iranian diplomat also emphasized the strong and fraternal ties between the two countries and declared that, in spite of the personal and positive messages from Baku, Azerbaijan intends to continue to make groundless statements for the mass media, and Tehran will respond appropriately to those statements.