Iranian trucks have been illegally entering the Karabakh region on a regular basis since before the region was liberated from Armenian occupation last fall, according to Azerbaijan's president, Yeni Safak reports. 

Ilham Aliyev was commenting on the recent entry of the trucks as part of an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency in which he evaluated the second Karabakh war, which erupted on Sept. 27, 2020.

"This is not the first time that Iran's trucks have illegally traveled to the Karabakh region. This is something that happened repeatedly during the occupation period,” Aliyev said.

"We had the information. But there was, of course, no clear information like now. With this in mind, we were expressing our dissatisfaction with the illegal crossings through various channels, but this process continued.”

Around 60 Iranian trucks entered Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region without permission between Aug. 11 and Sept. 11 this year after Azerbaijan called on Iran to put an end to the practice, he said.

"Then we started to control the road passing through Azerbaijani land, and the trucks sent by Iran to Karabakh came to an end," he said, adding if they use Azerbaijani land, they should pay taxes.

Aliyev also commented on a military drill launched by Iran near the Azerbaijani border.

"This is a very surprising event. Every country can carry out any military drill on its own territory. It's their sovereign right. But why now, and why on our border?"

"Why weren't the drills held when the Armenians were in the Jabrayil, Fizuli and Zangilan regions? Why is this being done after we liberated these lands, after 30 years of occupation?"