BAKU— Access to several Iranian news websites that were blocked in Azerbaijan has been restored, according to sources in Baku and checks conducted by the Azerbaijani news outlet Qazetci.
The websites of Iran’s Mehr and Tasnim news agencies and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) became accessible without a virtual private network (VPN) in Azerbaijan on September 30.
The restoration of access to the three Iranian websites coincided with Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev’s visit to Tehran on September 30th.
Mustafayev met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials, including Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
However, access to the website of “Sahar Azeri”, an Iranian television channel that has been sharply criticized by Azerbaijani authorities, remains blocked. Azerbaijani state agencies have neither explained the reason behind the blocking of the Iranian websites, nor announced that access had been restored.
The development comes as relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have been strained, with the two countries taking increasingly hostile positions toward some media organizations on the other side.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has placed several Azerbaijani media organizations, including the state television AzTV, on a list of “enemy media organizations.” The announcement drew a strong negative reaction from the Azerbaijani government.
On July 27, Azerbaijan’s State Media Development Agency accused Iran’s Foreign Intelligence Ministry of targeting Azerbaijani media organizations and threatening their employees with criminal prosecution.
The statement by state agency also declared the activities of official Iranian media outlets—accused of “engaging in anti-Azerbaijan activities”—within the country’s territory to be illegal.
“The activities of media entities operating contrary to the national interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan, conducting propaganda against the sovereignty, constitutional order, territorial integrity and national security of our country — namely the “Sahar” television channel and the Mehr news agency — as well as the activities of representatives of these entities within the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, are considered illegal,” the agency stated.
In early June CNN reported, Israel has covertly deployed elite military and intelligence units to Azerbaijan to facilitate operations against Iran. During his meeting with Rezaei, the officials discussed the U.S. attack on Iran as well. Shahin Mustafayev rejected allegations that Azerbaijani territory was being used for operations against Iran.
Azerbaijani authorities have not issued an official statement on the blocking of access to the Iranian websites or the subsequent restoration of access to some of them.
By Afgan Mukhtarli