The credibility issue

It appears that further individuals have now been arrested in connection with spying for Iran.

The report on the arrest of the first person in Cyprus states:

During surveillance, the suspect was observed moving on foot near the British Bases, carrying a large camera with telephoto lens almost daily, as well as three mobile phones.

Incidentally, it is a funny but unintentional coincidence that this example photo, which I am allowed to use free of charge, was taken in Iran.

Another report explains:

He paid for a month’s stay in advance but, according to information, he hardly left the room.

Both describe completely contradictory behaviour on the part of the individual. This raises the question: which details are accurate and which are not?

It will therefore be interesting to see what else will be reported about this episode. Overall, the cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, which is also often highlighted by the Iranian side, is more exciting. However, the confrontation between Israel and Iran is causing a lot of problems for Azerbaijan, which would prefer to focus on economic cooperation with Tehran in peace. 

Currently, Europe is somewhat hesitant to closely monitor Azerbaijan’s intelligence agency – because there are a lot of raw materials there that governments would like to get their hands on. In this respect, some EU countries in particular are rather clueless when it comes to the topic of “cooperation Iran with other states.” Maybe the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the role of Turkey provided a last-minute opportunity to take a closer look at the Azərbaycan Respublikasının Xarici Kəşfiyyat Xidməti. It is probably wiser to deal with certain lobbyists and company representatives who are keen to promote Azerbaijan within the EU. The keyword here is caviar diplomacy. 

At present, it is mainly France that is forced to deal with Azerbaijan. The reason for this is the Martin Ryan case. The reporting on this is also quite varied, depending on the source. This case is actually very interesting, also in relation to the other defendant, Azad Mammadli, and the defendant’s (Ryan) company. The information available on this company, founded by Ryan in 2020, is rather limited. It described itself as “importers and distributors of food products and raw materials.”

Among other things, the indictment accuses Ryan of seeking information on Azerbaijan’s relations and military cooperation with other countries on behalf of France. The list of these countries underscores the importance that Baku has now achieved – or wants to achieve: Algeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, China, Somalia, as well as the United Kingdom and “Central Asian states.”

In short, it is in the interests of both Azerbaijan and Iran to see the current conflict resolved as quickly as possible.