Diplomatic disagreements between Iran and Azerbaijan continue. Fifty-five Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations have sent an open letter to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, demanding that the right of ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran to receive education in their mother tongue be guaranteed.
On November 2, representatives of the organizations delivered the letter to the Iranian Embassy in Baku. However, the following day, the embassy announced that it had not officially received it. The diplomatic mission explained that, under its internal regulations, letters from unknown or untrusted senders are not registered and are destroyed.
The response sparked dissatisfaction among the organizations that had signed the letter. Their representatives argued that the embassy was deliberately ignoring the contents of the appeal in an attempt to avoid addressing the issue raised.
Another disagreement between Tehran and Baku had emerged after Iran's Minister of Science, Hossein Simaei Sarraf, invited Azerbaijani girls who wear hijabs to study at Iranian universities. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education described his proposal as interference in the country's internal affairs and urged Iranian officials to focus on the educational rights of ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran.
The disagreement between the two countries goes beyond the question of how education should be organized. It also concerns how Tehran and Baku interpret each other's statements and actions when national identity and educational rights are at stake.
The demand made by the Azerbaijani organizations concerns ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran, while the response from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education shows that Baku also views the issue as a matter of interstate relations. The Iranian Embassy's response, however, has shifted the focus of the discussion to the procedure for receiving the letter. It remains unclear whether the Iranian authorities will issue an official position on the educational demand that has been raised.
