Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ceyhun Bayramov, discussed “problems and misunderstandings” between the two countries in two phone calls, Iranian state media reported on April 8, days after Baku expelled four Iranian diplomats over “provocative actions.” The expulsions came amid a deterioration of ties, partly due to Baku’s improving relations with Tehran’s archenemy Israel. Baku last week opened an embassy in Israel. During the row, Azerbaijan suggested that Iran may have been connected to an assassination attempt on an anti-Tehran Azerbaijani lawmaker. Tehran has denied the accusation. Iran has a large population of ethnic Azeris in the northwest of the country.

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