TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has expressed concern about the escalating tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, asking the two countries to refrain from upping the ante and instead engage in dialogue. 

“Sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through dialogue and diplomacy,” the diplomat stressed. He also encouraged the two countries to move more swiftly towards securing a peace agreement during ongoing talks. 

Armenia said on Tuesday that four of its soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani fire along the heavily militarized border. The attack was the first deadly skirmish since Baku withdrew its forces from Karabakh in September, spurring a mass exodus of the region’s Armenian population. 

After hundreds of people died during the war, the two countries agreed to sit at the negotiating table to put an end to their decades-long hostilities. Some Azerbaijani media outlets, however, have been promoting new attacks this time on Armenian soil, repeating President Ilham Aliyev’s previous remarks that claimed Armenia is part of Azerbaijani lands. 

Iran has always emphasized that Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan while warning that it would not tolerate any new changes to its historic borders with Armenia.