Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Iran is interested in maintaining the status quo in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, a new WikiLeaks cable says, Armenian media reported.

The secret cable quotes former US ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse as saying in the preface of a document analyzing Armenian-Iranian relations that the embassy’s employee dealing with Iran-related issues had allegedly visited Armenia in October 2007 and met with political leaders, businessmen and analysts there.

WikiLeaks said that according to the document, Armenian analysts said during the meeting with the US diplomat that Tehran is seeking to maintain the status quo in the region, particularly, in Nagorno Karabakh.

20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including the Nagorno Karabakh region, has been under Armenian occupation since the two South Caucasus republics signed a precarious cease-fire in 1994 following a lengthy war. Mediators from Russia, the United States and France have led negotiations on Karabakh settlement but little progress has been made so far.

Armenian former national security minister David Shakhnazaryan claimed at the meeting with the US embassy employee that Iran does not favor reaching progress in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as the current situation allows Tehran to deflect Azerbaijan’s attention from the challenges facing Azerbaijanis in northern Iran (South Azerbaijan), the cable said.

Iran is home to over 30 million Azerbaijanis, or 25 percent of the country’s population, which is predominantly Persian. Azerbaijanis living in the neighboring country have for many years been unable to exercise their constitutional rights, including the right to receive education in their native language.

As for Armenia-Iran relations, Shakhnazaryan said that the two countries’ cooperation is not limited to trade. There is high-level cooperation on security and political issues, he said, according to the cable.