Iran should become closer to Azerbaijan
Landing several mortar shells fired during the recent fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia is not a serious security problem for Iran, but in the long term the conflict can pose threats for Islamic Republic, Hassan Shariatmadari an Iranian politician told Trend on April 3.
Shariatmadari who is the son of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Kazem
Shariatmadari believes that Iran should leave the biased position
and approach more to Azerbaijan. “At the same time, Baku should
eliminate some remained tensions with Iran. Then Iran can help both
neighbors to settle the conflicts and prevent the expansion of war,
which can pose a serious threat against Iran’s security,” he
said.
According to Shariatmadari, the remaining conflict in the Caucasus
can lead to attracting terror groups in the region or involving
other nations in the war between Baku and Yerevan. “The
international community should attend more attention to settle the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as soon as possible”.
An Iranian provincial official has announced that three mortar shells fired during the recent fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan have landed in the territories of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province.
Saeid Shabestari-Khiabani, the deputy governor-general of East Azerbaijan Province for security affairs, said that the mortar shells dropped in a village near Khudaferin County, Tasnim news agency reported.
Shabestari-Khiabani further added that the mortar shells did not leave any casualties in the Iranian territory.
The Iranian official did not mention which country fired the mortar shells that hit the Iranian territory.
On the night of April 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns.
Later on the same day, Azerbaijani defense ministry announced
that the country’s armed forces launched counter-attack operations
against Armenia that led to the liberation of several strategic
heights and settlements.
However, later on taking into account the international
organizations’ appeals, Azerbaijan announced unilateral suspension
of the counter-attacks and response measures in the territories
occupied by Armenia.
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.
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