Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Science and Education has expressed surprise and regret over remarks by Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei Sarraf regarding education in Azerbaijan.

Axar.az reports that the ministry issued a statement in response.

“The remarks are entirely inappropriate and amount to an attempt to interfere in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs. No one has the right to interfere in our country’s domestic affairs, including its education policy, and any such attempts will be firmly rejected.

We would advise Iranian officials to focus on their own country’s problems rather than interfere in the internal affairs of others.

As a result of Iran’s policies, there is not a single school in the country where classes are taught in Azerbaijani. The language is also not used as a medium of instruction at higher education institutions. Yet, around 40 million ethnic Azerbaijanis live in Iran, and they have been denied the right to receive an education in their mother tongue for decades.

Rather than interfering in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs, Iran’s Minister of Science, Research and Technology and other officials commenting on this issue should focus on these problems and take steps to address this unprecedented injustice, which has persisted for decades,” the statement said.

Note that, Iran’s Minister of Science, Research and Technology, Hossein Simaei Sarraf, said on Thursday, October 22, that Iranian universities were ready to admit Azerbaijani girls who had faced difficulties continuing their education because of restrictions on wearing the hijab in schools.