Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/BAKU: The Azerbaijan government appointed its first-ever ambassador to Israel amid escalating tussle with its large southern neighbour Iran.
Baku appointed ambassador
President Ilham Aliyev signed the presidential decree on Wednesday appointing Mukhtar Mammadov, a veteran official who has held posts in education and foreign ministries, as Baku’s first envoy to Israel after thirty years of bilateral relations.
Israel has an embassy in Baku since the early 1990s and has been a significant military backer of Azerbaijan in recent years, including diplomatic and economic support for Baku in its standoff with Armenia over the Karabakh region.
Azerbaijan also supplies around 40 % of Israel’s oil imports, and both Aliyev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have hailed strong relations between their countries.
