Azerbaijan,“Until now Baku has not recognized Islamic State as a terrorist group,” Azerbaijani expert Ilham Ismail announced, according to a report by Ghafghaz.ir Iranian news agency.
Reflecting on the recent Tehran terror attacks, the Azerbaijani expert in particular said: “Daish (the Islamic State) has been designated as a terrorist organization by Russia and the United States. Until now, it has not been officially recognized as a terrorist group in Azerbaijan. The issue is not related to recognizing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or Daish as terror group, but most importantly, fighting such groups.”
To remind, in an interview with Azerbaijani news agency APA (July 2015), Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pak Ayeen spoke about the possibility of Islamic State finding its way into the Caucasus region, noting the following: “The Islamic State has two targets in the Caucasus. Their first goal is causing threat and creating illiteracy in North Caucasus. Thus, putting pressure on Russia, they want to change this country’s position on Syria and Iraq. Their second target is Azerbaijan, a Shia country, they repeatedly stated it.”
In this respect, Ayatollah Seyed Hassan Ameli, representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader in Ardabil Province, expressed concerns in his report over the Islamic extremist groups operating in Azerbaijan, noting that the presence of the Islamic State terror group in Azerbaijan poses a serious threat to its neighboring Ardabil Province.