FARS News Agency, Iran
 Tuesday


Iran Cautions Rising Tensions Between Armenia, Azerbaijan Over
Nagorno-Karabakh Region



TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi voiced
concern over the escalation of tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and said that the increase in
conflicts is not in the interest of Azeri and Armenian people.

"Iran will spare no efforts to decrease tensions in this region," Qassemi said.

The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman expressed the hope for
restoration of peace and stability in the region and cautioned about
enemy's plots for provoking violence.

In relevant remarks in January 2015, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif reiterated that the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between
Azerbaijan and Armenia can be resolved only through political
solutions.

"We hope that the (Nagorno-) Karabakh dispute will be resolved only
through compliance with the international laws and talks between the
two sides," Zarif said in Yerevan.

He further reiterated that Iran wishes peace and stability for its neighbors.

Despite facing strong international pressure, the Armenian and
Azerbaijani leaders have failed to agree on the basic principles of
ending the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict put forward by Russia, the United
States and France in 2011.

Armenia and Azerbaijan thus remain officially at war over
Nagorno-Karabakh and the dispute is a major source of tension in the
South Caucasus region wedged between Iran, Russia and Turkey.

No country - not even Armenia - officially recognizes Karabakh as an
independent state.

The mountainous rebel region has been controlled by ethnic Armenians
since it broke free of Baku's control after a fierce war in the early
1990s that killed 30,000 people.