Now Even the Russians are to Blame: What is Happening on the Goris-Kapan Road

The newspaper ‘Zhoghovurd’ writes that near the settlement of Vorotan on the Goris-Kapan interstate road, in the area of the Azerbaijani-controlled settlement of Eyvazli, the police of the Republic of Azerbaijan are checking the documents of drivers and cargoes of trucks with Iranian state license plates.

The National Security Service of Armenia had issued a statement on this matter, noting that joint efforts were being made by the border guard troops of the NSS and the border service of the Russian FSB to regulate the situation that has arisen. However, these efforts have not yielded results, as yesterday the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee commented on the collection of road taxes and other customs duties for vehicles passing through the Goris-Kapan road segment.

“According to Article 210 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the vehicles of foreign states are subject to taxation when entering and leaving the country. According to the Code, vehicles are subject to road taxation, as well as a state fee for obtaining permission to regulate international road transport in Azerbaijan,” stated the Azerbaijani announcement.

It is worth mentioning that several Azerbaijani propaganda outlets had already made accusatory statements targeting the Iranian side on September 11, seemingly preparing the ground for this step. In this regard, at the beginning of August, the Iranian ambassador in Azerbaijan was summoned to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a note of protest was delivered, and it was unequivocally stated that Azerbaijan was concerned about the actions of the Iranian side.

Azerbaijani media also directly accuse Russian peacekeepers, suggesting that they either do not control the situation in the Lachin corridor (a fact that the Azerbaijanis consider unlikely) or that “all of this” occurs with their tacit consent.

Russian political scientist Stanislav Tarasov told ‘Zhoghovurd’ newspaper that these are local incidents that could happen again, as the border issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan have not been resolved. “The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still unresolved, but this is another matter and is related to boundary demarcation work. They can no longer resolve the issue of the borders of Karabakh and have decided to conduct works on border determination with Armenia,” he noted.

He added that statements from Iran have also contributed to the emergence of such a situation at the border. Furthermore, yesterday opposition factions proposed to invite the director of the NSS and several other government officials to parliament to discuss the issue, and despite positive signals from the authorities, this meeting did not take place.

For the complete article, refer to today’s edition of the newspaper.