Iran recalls envoy to Azerbaijan over Peres visit

Iran has recalled its ambassador to Azerbaijan for consultations after a visit by Israeli President Shimon Peres to the Islamic Republic's northwestern neighbor, an Iranian news agency reported on Monday.

Quoting an informed source, ISNA said the envoy was recalled to Tehran after Peres' visit to Azerbaijan on June 28 and "threats" which it said the Israeli ambassador in Baku had voiced against Iran, without elaborating.

The semi-official Fars News Agency carried a similar report.

Iran does not recognize Israel, which it refers to as the "Zionist regime". Israel has not ruled out military action if diplomatic efforts fail to resolve Tehran's nuclear row with the West. Tehran says its nuclear work is peaceful.

Peres greeted in Baku (Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO)

On June 21, Peres, commenting on post-election unrest in Iran, said he hoped the current Iranian government would disappear.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who officially won the disputed June 12 election, has sparked outrage in the West by questioning the Holocaust and predicting the imminent demise of Israel.

Konstantine Lerner, Professor of Georgian Studies at the Hebrew University's Institute for Asian and African Studies, said Azerbaijan, like Iran and most other Muslim countries, suffers from the clash between fundamentalism and the liberals' desire to bolster relations with the West.

"On the one hand a significant segment of Azerbaijan's population is becoming more secular and the regime is becoming liberal, but on the other hand the political forces of the religious-extremist parties are gaining strength," he said.

"I believe that most of the citizens are secular liberals who would like to see the normalization of Azerbaijan's ties with the West, but there are also other voices that push for extremism."

Lerner said a distinction must be made between Azerbaijan's relations with Israel and its attitude towards Jews. "Anti-Semitism does not exist there," said the professor.