Tehran backs resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on int’l law

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Iran’s top diplomat has expressed support for resolution of the conflicts in the South Caucasus based on the international law.

Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran supports the processes to resolve conflicts in the South Caucasus on the basis of norms and principles of international law.

He made the remarks during his visit to Armenia on January 27, Armenian media reported.

Zarif noted that as a neighboring country with Armenia, Iran stands for the establishment of peace and friendship among all regional countries.

He expressed hope for the peaceful resolution of the conflicts.

“We hope that the existing conflicts will be resolved peacefully. We are ready to help for these problems to be positively resolved," Zarif said at a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian.

Earlier, the foreign ministers of the two countries discussed the recent situation over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which emerged over Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Tehran has repeatedly offered to mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Earlier, Iranian ambassador to Baku Mohsen Pak Ayeen said the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the main goals of Iran's foreign policy.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled. The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.