The U. S. has included Azerbaijan in a list of countries that require monitoring for possible violations of religious freedom.

According to Deutsche Welle, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken yesterday presented an updated annual version of the State Department's list of countries violating religious freedom.

The twelve countries listed are Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and China.

In addition to Azerbaijan, the U.S. already monitors Algeria, the Central African Republic, the Comoros Islands and Vietnam for possible violations. The transition from the category of controlled countries to the blacklist implies the imposition of sanctions in the absence of improvement of the situation.

The U.S. Department of State included Azerbaijan in the list of possible religious freedom violators based on conclusion of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which expressed concern about the fate of Christian structures in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The commission also expressed concern about current decrees in Azerbaijan that require the registration of any religious group and the approval of their literature by official authorities.

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