Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday strongly criticized certain neighboring states for adopting policies which serve the interests of the "Zionist regime," the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"We are sorry for those countries around us and those neighbors who are at the service of the Zionist and are providing means for Israel's hegemony over the world," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

"They (certain neighbors) don't understand that they are facilitating the Zionists. We hope they could wake up," said Ahmadinejad.

On Wednesday, it was announced that the United States, Israel and Turkey are planning to launch joint military exercises in the Mediterranean sea, which is not the first of its kind.

Earlier in July, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said his country was ready to return as a mediator in indirect Israel-Syria talks. Turkey's attempts, in this regard, have never been welcomed by Iran's authorities.

Israel and Azerbaijan's growing relationship is also the source of concern for the Islamic Republic.

New Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan expressed on Aug. 11 his country's interest in developing relations with Azerbaijan, noting that "my task is to improve the relations between Israel and Azerbaijan, increase trade turnover and strengthen partnership."

Iran has directly and indirectly protested to Israel's presence on its borders, regarding it as a vital threat to its existence. Israel is sowing numerous plots to destabilize and topple the Islamic regime, Iranian officials said.

Israel said repeatedly that Iran's nuclear program constitutes the biggest concern for the Jewish state since its creation in 1948.

Washington and its allies, including Israel, have accused Tehran of being involved in developing nuclear weapons secretly. Iran, however, denied the charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for generating electricity only.

Source: Xinhua