Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has urged Armenia to return all territories that it occupied to Azerbaijan, Trend reported on November 3.

In remarks aired on Iran’s IRINN TV channel, Khamenei said that the territories of Azerbaijan must be liberated from occupation.

Khamenei noted that it is necessary to observe internationally recognized borders of countries.

In late October, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said at his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku that Iran condemned the occupation of Azerbaijani territories from the very beginning and supported Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

He said that the conflict should be resolved within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Trend said.

Aragchi noted that Iran had developed a plan for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"According to Iran, this plan is based on reality. Naturally, in the coming days, in connection with this plan, discussions will be held in Russia, Armenia and Turkey. We hope that these discussions will be effective and sustainable peace will be ensured with the help of the countries of the region," he added.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said that Iran has many times offered its assistance and mediation between Azerbaijan and Armenia to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, its role as a mediator must be approved by both sides.

Earlier Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Seyyed Abbas Mousavi expressed full support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and its fair position over Nagorno-Karabakh.

At the meeting with Azerbaijan Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov on October 23, the ambassador stressed that Iran is interested in construction work in the liberated border territories of Azerbaijan, as well as in the joint implementation of hydroelectric power plants “Khudaferin” and “Qiz Qalasi” and hydroelectric projects on the Araz River, which will contribute to further developing bilateral economic cooperation.

Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres. Armenia has been targeting Azerbaijan’s densely populated areas and infrastructure projects.
Armenia launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities and regions - Ganja, Barda, Mingachevir, Khizi, Absheron, Tartar, Gabala, Kurdamir, Siyazan, Goranboy, Aghdam among others.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz