Baku, Tehran enjoy great opportunity for expanding cooperation
There is a great opportunity for expanding cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, Iranian Ambassador to Baku Mohsun Pakain told journalists.
“The two countries enjoy excellent relations. We plan to organize reciprocal visits of high-ranking government officials to further develop our ties,” Azertac quoted Pakain as saying.
The ambassador said that lifting economic sanctions on Iran created a huge opportunity for broadening cooperation with Azerbaijan.
"The 11th meeting of the State Commission on economic, trade and humanitarian cooperation to be held in Baku this year will discuss ways of deepening the relations between the two countries," he said.
Azerbaijan and Iran are focused on expanding economic ties in various fields, including industry, agriculture, energy, alternative energy, and transportation.
Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $98.8 million in January-October 2015, more than $72 million of which accounted for imports of Iranian products, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.
Speaking about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the diplomat noted that the OSCE Minsk Group`s mediation mission has been unsuccessful over 20 years, blaming the group`s prejudice for this.
Pakain reiterated that Tehran recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Tehran has repeatedly offered to mediate in resolving the Nagorno - Karabakh conflict with the agreement of the parties.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 after Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.