Azernews.Az

A State Department official has said the United States, as a mediating country, is keen on a peaceful settlement of the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

Commenting on recent reports about Baku’s purchase of some $1.6 billion in weapons from Israel, Robert Hilton said Washington is confident that there is no military solution of the dispute and calls on the conflict parties to exercise restraint both on the frontline and in their statements.

Israeli officials confirmed Monday that Azerbaijan had agreed with Israel to purchase drones, antiaircraft missiles and missile defense systems worth $1.6 billion. Azerbaijani and Israeli officials have said the arms deal has no bearing on tensions over Iran’s nuclear program. But Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador on Tuesday and sought an explanation to the reports on the agreement. An Iranian deputy foreign minister warned that any potential use of Azerbaijan’s territory against neighboring Iran would be unacceptable.

This story is published by AzerNEWS Weekly under a project funded by the Foundation for State Assistance to the Development of the Media under the President of the Azerbaijan Republic.