Azerbaijan, Iran relations at high level – Iranian official

By Ayya Lmahamad

Iranian-Azerbaijani relations are at a high level and will continue to develop, Iran’s Deputy FM Abbas Aragchi said during an international conference about the Karabakh region held in Iran's Qom seminary on March 1, local media reported.

Aragchi also voiced support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

He noted that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, following the tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict turned into a full-blown war in the early 1990s. Aragchi underlined that the war ended in the occupation of Azerbaijan's regions, noting that international organizations failed to resolve the conflict and restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Noting the 44-days Second Karabakh War and signed joint statement, deputy FM emphasized that Iran has always recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

"Iran was opposed to the occupation of Azerbaijan lands and signed an agreement with the Azerbaijani government to build the Khudafarin dam, while the dam was in the occupied lands. The nature of this agreement was to oppose the Armenian invasion in Karabakh," he said.

Aragchi pointed out that Iran opposes any threat to the territorial integrity of the regional countries and role of foreign players in a regional crisis.

Moreover, he underlined that new political realities have emerged in the region since Azerbaijan’s liberation of its territories, noting that there is an opportunity to use these realities to establish closer economic cooperation.

Additionally, the deputy minister noted that Iran will continue cooperation with Azerbaijan in economic, political, social and cultural spheres.

Speaking at the same conference, head of the international communication center in Iran’s Qom seminary Hossein Kouhsari noted that there should be resistance against invaders of the Islamic lands, which also refers to Karabakh, which is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

"The Qom Seminary considers Karabakh and Azerbaijan and its valuable scientific and cultural background, which raised great people that the Qom Seminary is well aware of," he said.

He also emphasized that trans-regional powers should not interfere in regional affairs.

Additionally, Azerbaijan Ambassador in Iran Bunyad Huseynov stated that it has been set that there will be cooperation for the reconstruction of the Karabakh region between Iran and Azerbaijan.

The conference was attended by Azerbaijan Ambassador in Iran Bunyad Huseynov, Iran's Ambassador in Azerbaijan Abbas Mousavi, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Alireza Arafi the head of Qom Seminary and Mohsen Rezaei the Secretary of Expediency Council, Hassan Ameli representative of Iran's Leader in Ardabil Province, Ali Nikzad the head of Iran and Azerbaijan friendship group in the Iranian parliament, and other officials.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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