IRANIAN EMBASSY DENIES ‘KARABAKH GOVERNMENT’ REMARKS

news.az
Aug 23, 2011
Azerbaijan

The Iranian embassy in Russia has denied that its ambassador used
the phrase “government of Karabakh” in an interview with an Armenian
newspaper.

Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi was reported to have used the phrase in
an interview with the Russian-language Armenian newspaper, Noah’s Ark.

Reports that he used the phrase are “spread by the enemies of Iran
and Azerbaijan”, an embassy official told 1news.az.

“The ambassador gave his interview in Farsi, but during the
conversation with the reporter our ambassador did not use the phrase
‘government of Karabakh’,” the official continued.

For its part, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has said it is looking
into the reports.

Nagorno-Karabakh has declared itself an independent republic, but it
has not been recognized by any other countries and remains legally
part of Azerbaijan. Any reference to the “government of Karabakh”
would be considered tacit approval of Karabakh’s break from Azerbaijan.