By  Trend

Iran is interested in the rapid settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Iran's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Javad Jahangirzadeh said, Trend reports.

Jahangirzadeh made the remarks at a press conference in Baku on Feb. 8.

"Iran believes the negotiations between the conflict parties are important," he noted. "Meetings of the heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as meetings of foreign ministers may play a big role in resolving the conflict."

Of course, the OSCE Minsk Group is also trying to resolve this conflict, the ambassador said, adding that Iran supports a peaceful settlement of the conflict through negotiations.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.