Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education and Science called on Iranian colleagues to "look after the rights of their citizens" - instead of calling on Azerbaijani girls who were allegedly forced to take off their hijabs for their universities. This call was previously made by the Iranian Minister of Science, Hossein Simai-Saraf, due to protests in Azerbaijan against the introduction of school uniforms. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education and Science called this statement an attempt to interfere in the country's internal affairs. They recalled that in Iran there are no schools or universities that teach in the Azerbaijani language, even though about 40 million ethnic Azerbaijanis live there.