DUSHANBE. Feb 7 (Interfax) - Dushanbe criticized an Iranian presidential candidate's declared intention to seek Tajikistan's unification with Iran, saying that the two countries' common language and culture do not give grounds for making such statements.
Iranian media quoted Ayatollah Sayed Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi, the head of the Iranian branch of Hezbollah, who earlier declared his intention to run for president in Iran in June 2013, as saying while speaking to his voters that Iran would regain Azerbaijan, Armenia and Tajikistan, which he described as its breakaway territories, and that this will be the main item on his election program.
Kharrazi did not specify whether he considers the whole territories of these countries or only parts of them Iran's breakaway territories, but he emphasized that this will be done without bloodshed.
"The statement by the leader of the Iranian party Ansar-e-Hezbollah, who is a relative of a former foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has caused surprise and regret in various cultural and political circles of Tajikistan," the Tajik Foreign Ministry said.
"Ayatollah Sayed Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi's statement has been viewed as a statement by an intriguer, ignoramus, and a man unaware of the realities, the current situation in the region and the world, and the international law system," it said.
"Tajikistan's public strongly condemns such a statement on the consolidation of land by an Iranian presidential candidate he made in the heat of election passions, which run counter to the 21st century realities, encroach on such sacred ideas as independence and self-reliance and interfere in an independent state's internal affairs," the Tajik Foreign Ministry said.
Iran was among the first countries to recognize Tajikistan's independence in 1991, and the two countries "have pursued mutually beneficial multifaceted cooperation" all these years, it said.
"A common historical past and cultural, language and ethnical ties are crucial elements that unify Tajikistan and Iran within the same cultural and civilizational space and provide the necessary foundation for promoting cooperation between the two independent countries based on equality, non-interference in their internal affairs, territorial integrity and respect for state independence," the ministry said.
The Tajik language is a variant of Farsi. Tajik and Iranian leaders have routinely pointed to common cultural and language roots of the two countries, although they prefer not to mention that 98% of Tajiks are Sunnis, while 89% of Iranians are Shiites, and there are significant differences between these two Islamic varieties.
At the official level, Tajikistan and Iran are seeking to strengthen their economic ties, and Tehran makes investments in Tajikistan's energy sector and road construction. However, Dushanbe is opposing Iran's cultural expansion and even prohibited its citizens from studying at the Iranian Embassy school at the end of 2010. To study at Iranian colleges, Tajik citizens have to obtain permission from its Education Ministry, as the Tajik authorities are seeking to bar Tajik students from studying at religious colleges abroad.