Border Guards Not Involved in Azeri Incident

The commander of Iran’s border police said a clash along the common border with the Republic of Azerbaijan has been reported between Azeri border guards and human traffickers from that country.

Speaking to Tasnim News Agency, Brigadier General Qassem Rezaei pointed to a Iranian border police report about a recent exchange of fire near the border and said the clash erupted inside Azeri territory and had nothing to do with Iranian border guards.

“The report said the clash occurred between the border guards of Azerbaijan and smugglers who are nationals of the country,” Rezaei said Monday.

According to media reports, on June 21, a shootout was recorded at the Iran-Azerbaijan border near Baykhanli village of Jalilabad district.

Azerbaijan’s State Border Service claimed that the Azeri border guards had detected a group of armed men from Iran trying to cross the border into Azerbaijan opening fire at Azeri border guards.

During the incident, the head of the Azerbi border patrol received several bullet wounds and the infiltrators fled the scene, the reports said.