In a speech at the Supreme National Defense University of Iran on Saturday, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said what the Republic of Azerbaijan has done in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in recent weeks was the restoration of its territorial integrity.

However, the Iranian commander said, all minorities across that region should be able to live with peace of mind and with equal rights like other citizens.

He noted that Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan are respectable neighbors of Iran in the Caucasus region and the Islamic Republic cares about the territorial integrity of both of them.

The general also expressed hope for the establishment of full peace in the Caucasus without any change in the geopolitics and borders of the region leading to tranquility, prosperity and welfare of people.

Major General Baqeri underlined that there is no justification for the continuation of war in the Karabakh region hereafter.

The separatist government of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, backed by Armenia, said last week it would dissolve itself by the end of 2023 after a three-decade bid for independence.

The decision triggered a massive exodus by the ethnic Armenians.

The region and sizable surrounding territories came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military at the end of a separatist war in 1994. However, the Azerbaijan Republic regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself after six weeks of fighting in 2020. The area is recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan.

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