Iranian official: Destruction of Azerbaijani mosques by Armenia regretful

19 January 2021 13:57 (UTC+04:00)

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By Vafa Ismayilova

Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Farhad Dejpasand has said that Armenia's desecration and destruction of Azerbaijani mosques is regretful, adding that his country was ready to restore mosques in Azerbaijan's liberated territories, Azertag reported on January 19.

"What the Armenians did in the territory of Azerbaijan evokes regret. Disrespect for mosques in occupied Karabakh is unacceptable. In the modern world, such actions should be considered barbaric,” the minister said.

He stresed that “Iran is ready to closely assist in the restoration of mosques in the liberated Azerbaijani districts".

Earlier, Special Assistant to Speaker of the Iranian Parliament on International Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Iranian companies have high technical and engineering capabilities and can participate in the restoration of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

During the meeting with Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran Bunyad Huseynov held in Tehran on January 14, Amir-Abdollahian reminded Iran’s support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Moreover, Amir-Abdollahian emphasized the readiness of the Iranian parliament to develop comprehensive relations with the Azerbaijani parliament at various levels.

In the meantime, he stressed the need for negotiations between representatives of the two countries and the exchange of parliamentary delegations between Azerbaijan and Iran.

"Iran and Azerbaijan have great potential to improve the trade level and economic relations, which should benefit the peoples of the two countries," he said.

In turn, the Azerbaijani ambassador expressed his gratitude and highly appreciated the statements of the Supreme Leader and other Iranian officials in support of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and stressed the need to strengthen cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.

During his visit to Shsha city on January 14, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Armenians had destroyed about 70 mosques during the three-decade occupation.

As a result of Armenian vandalism, hundreds of cultural institutions, including 927 libraries with 4.6 million books, 808 palaces of culture, clubs and other cultural institutions, 85 music and art schools were destroyed on the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Over 700 historical and cultural monuments registered by the state before the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were looted, including the 11 and 15-span Khudaferin bridges in Jabrayil, Ganjasar and Khudavend sanctuaries in Kalbajar, the mausoleum in Aghdam's Khachin Turbetli village, Azykh cave in Fuzuli as well as Shusha state historical and architectural reserve.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10 brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.