Page 6 - IRANRptAug20
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A lack of financial support from the authorities and weak economic conditions forced shopkeepers and shopping malls to open from April.
2.2 Foreign ministry spokesman Mousavi appointed Tehran’s ambassador to Baku
Iran has appointed foreign ministry spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi as its new ambassador to Azerbaijan.
The move, announced on July 23, came as Seoul summoned the Iranian ambassador to South Korea to its foreign ministry to protest about remarks made by Mousavi in which he described ties between Washington and Seoul as like a “master-servant relationship”. The controversy, brought about by Iran stepping up its demands that South Korea unfreeze $7bn of Iranian money held by its banks, naturally invited speculation that Mousavi was being transferred to another post because of the fallout from the row with the Koreans. “The Foreign Ministry spokesman was sent away to nowhere,” one Twitter user wrote.
Mousavi has grown in prominence in recent years to become one of the best-known faces of the Iranian diplomatic service. He is associated with his daily press conferences dealing with issues such as defending the Islamic Republic amid the US sanctions campaign against Tehran.
Current envoy to Baku, Javad Jahangirzadeh, is to return to Iran in the foreign ministry reshuffle.
Mousavi is being posted to Azerbaijan at a time when it is embroiled in the worst military clashes for several years with neighbour Armenia over border issues. Iran tries to maintain a neutral stance in the tensions between Baku and Yerevan and it has offered to mediate to address the flare-up of hostilities.
Last week, Mousavi paid a two-day visit to Iran’s northwestern Ardabil Province, which borders Azerbaijan. He met with several officials including the governor and the province’s leader of Friday Prayers.
During his official trip, Mousavi also stopped in on another Iranian province that borders Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan Province. “East Azerbaijan has a good position in Iran-Azerbaijan relations, but we must try to upgrade this position," he said.
Trade between Iran and Azerbaijan has generally increased during the two administrations of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who took office in 2013. The neighbours have entered into joint automaking and railway projects. However, the reintroduction of US sanctions against Iran in 2018 has bitten a chunk out of trade between the two countries and, according to Radio Farda, Baku has delayed a $500mn credit line for the development of the Rasht-Astara railway. Astara is a city that straddles the Iranian-Azerbaijani border—there is both an Astara in Iran and an Astara in Azerbaijan, with the two separated by the Astarachay river.
6 IRAN Country Report August 2020 www.intellinews.com
