Baku, Tehran praise bilateral ties development

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani and Iranian officials have expressed satisfaction with the development of the bilateral relations.

Elmar Mammadyarov, the Azerbaijani foreign minister met with Ibrahim Rahimpour, the deputy Iranian foreign minister on March 3, Azerbaijani foreign ministry reported.

The sides hailed relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, saying they were developing in line with a strategy defined by the two countries` presidents. They also praised the two countries` contributions to ensuring of peace, stability and security in the region.

Mammadyarov also noted that the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a major threat to the regional peace and security.

He emphasized that the Armenian armed forces` withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories is the main condition for the settlement of the conflict.

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.

The sides further stressed that trilateral Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey cooperation contributed to regional development.

They also emphasized the importance of the Baku-meeting of the Caspian littoral states.

Rahimpour also met his Azerbaijani counterpart Khalaf Khalafov and they discussed cooperation in the political, economic, trade, science, cultural, transport and energy fields.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

Tehran has in recent years focused seriously on development of ties with neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan which enjoys various commonalties with Iran in religious, historical and cultural fields.