BAKU. Aug 14 (Interfax-Azerbaijan) -Iran is unhappy over the involvement of U.S. military personnel in the Azerbaijani military exercise in the Caspian Sea.
"There is no need to invite outside help to provide regional security. What is more, the five Caspian countries have agreed that they will tackle regional issues without inviting in other countries," Izetullah Jalali, press service chief of the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan, told Interfax on Thursday.
The Azerbaijani action runs counter to the overall understanding between the littoral countries, he said.
The appearance of outside nations threatens the entire region, not Iran alone, Jalali said.
"Iran will make its position on this matter known as soon as it has an official confirmation of the reports about the exercise," he said.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev told the press on Wednesday that "the goal of the exercise is protection of our oil fields against terror attacks and other emergencies." The exercise will take a few days, he said.
Abiyev said he will fly to the United States in September to discuss the outlook for bilateral defense cooperation with top Pentagon officials.