Iran Rejects Accusations Of Supporting Religious Communities In Azerbaijan

The Iranian embassy in Baku has denied allegations by some Azerbaijanian media that Teheran supports non-traditional religious communities in Azerbaijan. According to the press service of Iranian embassy, such statements are not grounded and target to steer the public attention from internal problems. On May 1, 2001 Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of the National Security Tofik Babayev blamed Iran and some other Arab countries for the fact that the religious organisations controlled by their secret services are plotting a religion-based coup d'etat in Azerbaijan. Babayev called to finally put an end to the spreading of Wahhabism in Azerbaijan, warning that its ardent advocates made up some 7,000 in Azerbaijan.