Prominent Iranian expert: Azerbaijani President urged the U.S. to attack Iran

Published: 2025-07-01 11:06

In 2010, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, during a meeting with then–U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Joseph Burns (CIA Director from 2021 to 2025), “spoke out against Iran, expressing views that revealed his true position toward the country.” This was reported by Ahmad Kazemi, a well-known Iranian expert on the Caucasus and Eurasia.

According to Kazemi, "Aliyev expressed frustration that the U.S. was delaying a military strike on Iran, called Iran a threat to the Middle East (West Asia), stated that the sanctions were ineffective, and insisted on the need for military punishment. The content of this meeting was later published by WikiLeaks and has not been denied by the Azerbaijani government."

Kazemi argues that, in order to understand “the hostile stance of the Aliyev dynasty toward Iran... one must examine its actions since 2003—when Azerbaijan gradually turned into a regional base for Zionism.”

By Azerbaijani-Israeli Alliance Global News