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Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has been involved in a helicopter crash hours after posing for pictures with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and rescuers are frantically trying to reach the site. The aircraft was traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province near Jolfa, around 375 miles northwest of Tehran, when it suffered a 'hard landing', according to Iranian state television. Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, but had been hampered by the poor weather conditions in the area. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. The helicopter was one of a convoy of three and foreign minister...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFriday, January 27, 2023 Members of Eastern European Organized Crime Group Allegedly Plotted to Murder a U.S. Citizen of Iranian Origin in New York City Who Has Publicly Opposed the Iranian GovernmentA federal court in New York today unsealed murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against three members of an Eastern European criminal organization for plotting the murder of a U.S. citizen who has been targeted by the Government of Iran for speaking out against the regime’s human rights abuses.According to court documents, Rafat Amirov, aka Farkhaddin Mirzoev, aka Pᴎᴍ, aka Rome, 43, of Iran; Polad Omarov, aka Araz...

The chair of a new super PAC supporting former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential bid is a registered foreign agent for Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, according to The Federalist. The Federalist’s Sean Davis reported Tuesday (original links): Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has a brand new Super PAC in his corner, and it’s being run by a registered foreign agent for the government of Azerbaijan. Larry Rasky, a lobbyist who previously worked as a top campaign operative for Biden, is listed as the treasurer of the PAC, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Washington • The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference at Baku on the Caspian Sea in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, according to a confidential ethics report obtained by The Washington Post. Three former top aides to President Barack Obama appeared as speakers at the conference. Lawmakers and their staff members received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of travel expenses, silk scarves, crystal tea sets and Azerbaijani rugs valued at $2,500 to $10,000, according to the ethics report. Airfare for the lawmakers and some of their spouses...

Failed political consultant Liz Mair is crowd funding a political attack on billionaire presidential candidate Donald Trump and she’s getting noticed. But Mair’s past work as a paid shill of a Muslim dictatorship that jails journalists and activists should make us wonder about her motives, especially as the Middle East once more descends into chaos. Mair was paid $15,000 a month by Ilham Aliyev, the dictator of Azerbaijan, according to documents filed in accordance with the Foreign Registration Act (FARA).

"Azerbaijan thwarts terror attack against Israeli, Jewish targets Security official in Baku links Iran to planned operation; three men detained." SNIPPET: "Three men were detained last week after planning to attack two Israelis employed by a Jewish school in Baku, the Azerbaijan Ministry of National Security has revealed. Meanwhile, an Azeri commentator considered close to the republic's president has launched a scathing indictment of Iran. The Azeri ministry said it had arrested a cell that planned to "kill public activists," before it became apparent that the intended victims were two Israeli Chabad emissaries, a rabbi and a teacher employed by...

Today President Bush held a brief Press conference to speak about the economy in the Rose Garden of the White House, he also met with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the Oval Office at the White House, as well as, with North Korean Defectors and Family Members of Japanese Abducted by North Korea. Later in the day he met with Darfur Advocates in the Roosevelt Room

AZERBAIJANI ELECTIONS: And the Winners are Aliyev and... Putin Asim Oku, AIA Turkish section Aliyev and Putin, the winners of the elections The wreck of the "Orange revolution" in Azerbaijan was predictable. It was caused by disunity of the opposition, inconsistent position of the West, Aliyev's "carrot and stick" policy and fears of impoverished population. However, the priorities of the Azerbaijan governor who just strengthened his grip of power are also predictable. Trying to keep more or less good relations with the West, he will sail in the wake of the Russian policy... The West Condemns and... Accepts as a...

Another sign indicating that the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is disintegrating emerged in the Commonwealth summit held at Kazan. Turkmenistan is preparing to leave the 15 year old CIS by changing its status. Georgian President Mihail Saakashvili revealed that in the last hours of the summit, Turkmenistan government communicated its request for a change in its CIS permanent membership status. In the case that Turkmenistan breaks away from the CIS, it will be the first time since the three Baltic republics that a Central Asian Soviet will have obtained full independence....

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev today begins a three-day official visit to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin and top government officials. Observers expect the trip to further strengthen already warm ties between Moscow and Baku. But they say Azerbaijan's new leader is also attempting to maintain the delicate balancing act mastered by his father and presidential predecessor Heidar Aliyev -- maximizing relations with both Russia and the U.S. Prague, 5 February 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Russia and Azerbaijan are expected to sign six agreements during President Ilham Aliyev's visit -- including a political document known as the "Moscow Declaration" setting...

<p>Twenty years after shaking hands with the "Baghdad Butcher", Donald Rumsfeld is at it again. Last month he was spotted chatting up the new dictator of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.</p> <p>Given that Donny was one of the original signatories to a 1997 statement calling for the US "to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad", one might assume that he was really in Azerbaijan to talk about the well documented election fraud in that country. Or Rumsfeld could have questioned Aliyev about the arrest and torture of hundreds of oppostion leaders shortly after the elections in October. A more aggressive move would be to inform the "baby dictator" of a cut-off in the "$3 million a year in military aid" to fund, what the Washington Post refers to as "peacekeeping-training and education programs" (Read: School of the Assassins ).</p>

O n Oct. 15, Ilham Aliyev, businessman, playboy and novice politician, received a nice gift from his father — the country of Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev had ruled Azerbaijan almost continuously for 34 years, first as an agent of the Soviet Politburo and then as an autocrat in his own right. When he became too ill to continue, he anointed his son to run for president in his place. Ilham Aliyev ran a rigged campaign, using all the powers of the state, and then celebrated his victory by arresting most of the opposition. To conclude this nasty exercise in dynasty building,...

Azeri president collapses twice during speech BAKU: Azeri President Haydar Aliyev, who has ruled his nation with an iron grip for nearly a decade, collapsed twice before reviving to complete a televised speech yesterday. The 79-year-old president was addressing a military audience in the capital's Palace of the Republic when he suddenly gasped, clutched his heart and collapsed. Live transmission ended abruptly as bodyguards rushed to support the man who has established an unassailable hold on power since becoming president of the ex-Soviet Caspian state in 1993. Broadcasting resumed 12 minutes later as the frail-looking leader, whom many Azeris call...