October 31, 2002 - 21:32 AMT
OPENING AZERI CONSULATE GENERAL IN TEBRIZ POSTPONED AGAIN
The Azeri-Iranian negotiations on opening an Azeri consulate general in Iranian Tebriz city are again postponed to indefinite time. As reported by "Arminfo" agency referring to Baku mass media, in the course of prolonged consultations the Iranian party was not persuaded that it was necessary to open the consulate in Tebriz. Meanwhile, Baku journalists note that in August 1992 bilateral agreement had already been reached on opening consulates - an Azeri one in Tebriz and an Iranian in Nakhichevan. While the consulate in Nakhichevan started work the same year, the Iranian party still delays opening the Azeri consulate in Tebriz in spite of the ten years past. Commenting on the reasons, which have made Baku refuse from further negotiations on the issue, diplomatic circles suppose that Azerbaijan does not wish to cause damage to the development of bilateral relations, which have acquired a new impulse after Azeri President Heydar Aliyev's visit to Iran this May.