The war of words between Iran and Azebaijan has reached a new low point following the Azerbaijani foreign minister's visit to Israel and Palestine, as well as an assassination attempt on an Azerbaijani MP who was regarded as a staunch anti-Iranian.

Although Azerbaijani-Iranian relations have been going on a negative trend for a while, it has gone especially downhill since a gunman recently stormed Azerbaijan's Tehran embassy, killing the head of security. Azerbaijani authorities have accused Iran of not investigating the incident to the full ever since.

In the latest spat, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence has addressed Iran as "a state that supports terrorism and whose name is involved in the organisation of terrorist acts in different countries of the world".

It dismissed allegations by the Iranian Army's Ground Force Commander, Kioumars Heydari, regarding the presence of foreign forces in Azerbaijan as "unfounded" and "unacceptable".

Heydari claimed that "Zionist" (Israeli) forces are present in Azerbaijan and that Isis terrorists from Syria were involved in "the 44-day War" or "Second Karabakh War" in 2020, with some remaining in the country. He also stated that Iran would not tolerate border changes with Armenia.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence recalled the country's support for the territorial integrity of all nations and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. The ministry added that "the Azerbaijani army liberated its lands from occupation and achieved victory single-handedly during the 44-day Patriotic War".