Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.11

By Leman Zeynalova, Elnur Baghishov – Trend:

Iran is ready to make every effort for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and ensure security and stability in the region, Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Javad Jahangirzadeh told Trend.

“Iran has always openly said that any conflict harms the countries in the region. Iran has experienced an eight-year war and is aware of its consequences. Conflicts and wars cause moral harm to people,” said the envoy.

Jahangirzadeh pointed out that during the trilateral meeting with foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkey in Istanbul, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif openly expressed Iran’s position on this issue and the country is not going to abandon this stance.

The Istanbul Declaration was signed in October 2018 following the sixth trilateral meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The ministers stressed their commitment to principles of international law, in particular, respect of and support for sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders, peaceful settlement of all disputes, as well as non-interference in internal affairs.

The ministers reiterated in this regard the importance of the earliest resolution of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of the above-mentioned principles.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.