Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Wednesday warned of the danger of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict turning into a regional war amid speculations that Tehran is supporting separatist Armenian forces in their fight against Baku's military.
"We must be careful that the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not become a regional war," he said in televised remarks.
"Peace is the basis of our work, z and we hope to restore stability to the region in a peaceful way," Rouhani added, claiming Iran would not allow "states to send terrorists to our borders under various pretexts."
Iran has previously drawn fire from the country's ethnic Azerbaijani Turks for its alleged support to separatist forces illegally occupying Azerbaijan's territory, as military equipment has reportedly been transferred through the Iran-Azerbaijan border.
Ethnic Azerbaijanis, who constitute a large portion of the population in northwestern Iranian cities like Ardabil, Tabriz and Urmia, and at least one-third of Iran’s population of 81.8 million, poured onto the streets recently demanding Iranian authorities close the country’s border with Armenia.
Video footage circulating on social media showed Iranian police breaking up the protests using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Earlier Wednesday, Iranian authorities arrested at least 11 pro-Azerbaijan protesters, according to the Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency.
It said police forces used tear gas to disperse activists, who had gathered at a park in Ardabil in solidarity with Azerbaijan in the wake of Armenian attacks.
Three activists were also wounded, it added.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter stalemate over the Nagorno-Karabakh region since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The fiercest clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in years, over the occupied region, ignited Sunday. As of Thursday, at least 130 deaths have been confirmed as fighting spilled over into the fifth day.
Four U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and two U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions, as well as many international organizations, demand the withdrawal of the occupying Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh.
The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict but to no avail.
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as Azerbaijani territory by the U.N. and virtually every government in the world except Armenia.
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said he is suspending the permits pending an investigation.
Canada has halted arms exports to Turkey while it investigates whether the drone technology was improperly used by Azerbaijan’s forces during ongoing clashes with Armenia, the Canadian foreign minister said Monday.
"In line with Canada's robust export control regime and due to the ongoing hostilities, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey so as to allow time to further assess the situation," Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in the worst outbreak of violence the South Caucasus region has witnessed in years. Hundreds have died during clashes this past week in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, which is officially part of Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenians backed by Yerevan. Turkey is backing Azerbaijan in the conflict.
Last week, video analysis from Project Ploughshares, a Canada-based arms control group, appeared to indicate that drones used by Azerbaijan had been equipped with imaging and targeting systems developed by the Ontario-based L3Harris Wescam. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Wescam was granted permission this year to supply Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar with seven systems.
The Ploughshares report alleged that "Canada's export of WESCAM sensors to Turkey poses a substantial risk of facilitating human suffering, including violations of human rights and international humanitarian law."
Canada last froze new export permits to Ankara in October 2019 following the Turkish military campaign against Syrian Kurdish forces, but the suspension was lifted in May.
"Canada continues to be concerned by the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting in shelling of communities and civilian casualties," Champagne said. "We call for measures to be taken immediately to stabilize the situation on the ground and reiterate that there is no alternative to a peaceful, negotiated solution to this conflict."
Last week, Armenia recalled its ambassador to Israel, citing Israeli weapons sales to rival Azerbaijan. On Monday, Amnesty International said it had verified the use of Israeli-made cluster munitions by Azerbaijani forces.
This story contains reporting from Agence France-Presse.
Translation of Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan's October 5 Statement.
Dear Compatriots,
We conclude another successful day at the front lines of a war that has been unleashed upon us by Azerbaijan. The [Karabakh] Defense Army is brilliantly carrying out its combat mission, and at the moment is able to prevent all enemy advances – both in the air and on the ground. Our army is inflicting heavy equipment and manpower losses upon Azerbaijan. It is perhaps for this reason that Azerbaijan’s terrorist army fired more than a hundred rockets from the Smerch launcher towards the direction of the capital Stepanakert. Fortunately, there were no major losses.
I was informed today that the donations from Diaspora Armenians in these few days have already amounted to 50 million euros. I am grateful for your support, and I urge you to continue donating, because, after the war, after the impending victory, we must quickly rebuild the ruins, we must continue to flourish Artsakh – the pride of all Armenians. This is what our collective response to the world must be.
Our national unity once again proves that Azerbaijan has already lost this war. The victory is ours and let no one doubt that.
They put the guns in Guns and Roses.
The Azerbaijan military has released a bizarre heavy metal music video touting their war weapons and featuring lot of explosions amid a violent dispute with its neighbor Armenia.
The guitar-shredding propaganda tune “Atəş”— or “Fire” — was performed by a group of local heavy metal rockers dressed in combat uniforms, according to footage uploaded to the country’s military Youtube channel.
The brain-rattling song is performed in an open field, with no enemies in sight, next to a fleet of missiles launchers and tanks.
It’s performed by the local musicians Ceyhun Zeynalov and Narmin Karimbayova, backed by the Nur Group, according to newshub.co.nz.
But while the metal rockers look like they are ready for some Megadeth, in real-life, Azerbaijan’s military is not as powerful as the band’s sound and has been locked in a violent conflict over land with neighboring Armenia for years.
Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were wounded after fighting between the two former Soviet republics broke out on Sunday.
14:25, 1 October, 2020
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1, ARMENPRESS. A cameraman of the “Armenia TV” channel has been wounded in Artsakh from Azerbaijani artillery strikes, the Armenian Unified InfoCenter said.
“Armenia TV channel’s cameraman Aram Grigoryan has been wounded from Azerbaijani artillery shelling. Other reporters were also in the group,” they said.
The report comes right after two French reporters of Le Monde newspaper were wounded in the town of Martuni after Azeri forces bombarded the civilian settlement.
103 servicemen of the Artsakh military have been killed in the Azerbaijani attacks since September 27. Over 120 troops are wounded.
7 civilians were also killed in different cities of Artsakh since September 27 as Azeri forces bombarded towns.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
15:39, 1 October, 2020
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces have targeted a vehicle transporting the crew of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) international news agency in Artsakh, the Artsakh authorities said, posting images of the damaged vehicle.
The Azerbaijani military targeted a group of journalists in Martuni on October 1.
Two French reporters of Le Monde, a cameraman for the ARMENIA TV Channel and a reporter of 24News were wounded as Azeri forces shelled the town of Martuni in Artsakh.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) – NATO allies France and Turkey traded angry recriminations on Wednesday as international tensions mounted over the fiercest clashes between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces since the mid-1990s.
On the fourth day of fighting, Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh accused each other of shelling along the line of contact that divides them in the volatile, mountainous South Caucasus.
Dozens have been reported killed and hundreds wounded in fighting since Sunday that has spread well beyond the enclave’s boundaries, threatening to spill over into all-out war between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The re-eruption of one of the “frozen conflicts” dating back the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union has raised concerns about stability in the South Caucasus, a corridor for pipelines carrying oil and gas to world markets, and raised fears that regional powers Russia and Turkey could be drawn in.
Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan tweeted video of huge explosions from artillery fire, accompanied by dramatic pounding music and captioned “Takeover of an Azerbaijan position”.