16:04, 18 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan received today Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Abbas Zohouri, the Armenian Parliament told Armenpress.

During the meeting Speaker Mirzoyan said he views Iran as a friendly country and reliable partner. Touching upon the Artsakh conflict, the Speaker said after the November 9 trilateral statement on the ceasefire it is necessary to implement the agreements reached. As a priority he mentioned the exchange of the prisoners of war with “all for all” principle. Mirzoyan added that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict cannot be considered as completely resolved because the status of Nagorno Karabakh – the right to self-determination of the Artsakh-Armenians has not been solved under the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format. He said Iran cannot refrain from expressing position on the Artsakh issue, taking into account also the active involvement of other regional countries for the benefit of the Azerbaijani side both at the hostilities stage and afterwards.

The Ambassador stated that the Iranian side welcomes  the agreement on the ceasefire in Artsakh and reaffirmed the opinion of the Iranian Foreign Minister according to which the return of the prisoners of war should be quickly solved.

At the meeting the officials also discussed a number of issues relating to further boosting the inter-parliamentary ties, the economic relations and conducting joint economic activity in Armenia’s Syunik province.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan