Larijani calls to assist with political resolution of Karabakh conflict
By Nazrin Gadimova
The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the main regional issues under the focus of Iran.
Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, made the remark as part of a meeting with the Speaker of the Russian State Duma Sergey Narishkin in Moscow on April 20.
“There are many turbulence and wars in the region, and we cannot let another war to break out,” Larijani stressed, commenting on the recent escalation on the contact line of troops of the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies.
Tehran agreed with Moscow on inadmissibility of the escalation of another war in the region, he added. “For this reason, Iran and Russia must use every efforts and opportunities to convince Azerbaijan and Armenia to settle the conflict politically,” Larijani believes.
The Iranian official further said he held productive negotiations with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ogtay Asadov on the sidelines of the Moscow meeting.
Iran, Azerbaijan’s southern neighbor and one of the main actors in the region, has repeatedly declared its readiness to help in resolving the long-lasting conflict that emerged as a result of Armenia’s aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan in early 1990s.
Earlier, Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, called for truce, voicing Iran's readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku to resolve the existing crisis. "We should join efforts to rule out witnessing new crisis in the region," ILNA quoted Zarif as saying.
The current format of negotiations, being held in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group involving Russia, France and USA for more than 20 years, did not bring any step towards peace. The rising tension on the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops and human fatalities are another proof of failure.
Against this background, Baku welcomes the real steps to solve the conflict and calls for urgent and effective steps to solve the long lasting-bloody conflict.
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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova
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