An Azerbaijani pro-government analyst has said that the USA will attack Iran before the start of Ramadan (starts on 1 September), Zerkalo daily reported on 29 August. Speaking at a news conference in Baku on 28 August, the head of the Centre for Political Innovations and Technologies, Mubariz Ahmadoglu, said that the Russian president had allegedly ordered that the border with Azerbaijan be closed in view of an imminent war in Iran to prevent the possible influx of ethnic Azerbaijani refugees.

"Two days after the Georgia events, the Russian president ordered that the border with Azerbaijan be closed in order to bar foreigners from his country. This step aimed to bar from Russia those Azerbaijanis who would leave Iran in case of war," the expert said.

Ahmadoglu also said that the Georgian president was caught in a "trap" set by Russia.

"Russia chose a good moment to attack Georgia," Zerkalo quoted Ahmadoglu as saying. "It was aware of US plans to start war against Iran and it understood that ahead of its own military operations, the USA would not be criticizing Russian aggression in Georgia."