Azerbaijani Student Accused of 'Espionage' After Traveling to Iran for Girlfriend

Some sources affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claim that Farid Safarli, a student from Azerbaijan who was arrested in Iran last March, has been accused of espionage. The 'Quds Force' channel, associated with the IRGC, published photos of Farid Safarli on Sunday, stating that his charge is 'espionage' and that he was sent to Iran 'under the guise of travel.' Farid Safarli, reported by Azerbaijani sources to be 27 years old and a student in Germany, disappeared in Iran last March. His mother told the Azerbaijani service of Voice of America that her son is a student at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany. In late March, an official from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that the consulate of Azerbaijan in Tabriz is pursuing a meeting with him. His mother, Delara Asgarova, mentioned that an Iranian lawyer has been hired to follow up on his case. According to the Azerbaijani service of Voice of America, Safarli met an Iranian girl in Jena who was attending a medical training course at the university. After the course, the Iranian girl returned to her country, and they planned to meet in Istanbul. Safarli's mother said her son went to Istanbul, but the girl said she couldn't obtain a travel visa to Turkey, and they decided to meet in Iran. This girl's statements come at a time when Iranians do not need a visa to travel to Istanbul and are granted temporary entry at the airport. Some Twitter accounts close to Azerbaijan have described Safarli's arrest as part of the ongoing tensions between Tehran and Baku. Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran last January following an armed attack on it, claiming that the Iranian intelligence service was behind the attack, which Tehran denies. Last year, Azerbaijan also arrested five of its citizens on charges of espionage for Tehran and 17 others for their alleged membership in 'an illegal armed group established by Iran.' This oil-rich Caspian Sea country accuses Tehran of supporting Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a claim that the Islamic Republic also denies. On the other hand, Azerbaijan has close relations with Turkey, a regional rival of Iran, as well as Israel. Azerbaijani officials have arrested at least nine people on suspicion of connections with the Islamic Republic. Aliyev has stated that predicting the future of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan is very complex. Azerbaijan claims to have arrested sixteen spies affiliated with Iran.