Azernews.Az

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Sheikh-Attar has said Tehran was ready to resume its mediation in the settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
"Iran used to act as a mediator in the Garabagh settlement. Unfortunately, our country was estranged from mediation as a result of outside forces' influence. But if a relevant proposal is made by both sides, we are ready to undertake the mediating mission again," Sheikh-Attar told a news conference in Baku last week.
The deputy minister said that although Iran did not deem the activity of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group as satisfactory, it supported peace talks under way within this framework. He reaffirmed that Tehran backs Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
Sheikh-Attar regarded as a provocation the reports circulating that Iranian companies are cooperating with the separatist regime in Upper Garabagh. He rebuffed the allegations that a telecommunications company from Iran was collaborating with the self-proclaimed republic.
Commenting on the new Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian's recent visit to Iran, Sheikh-Attar said Iran has 15 neighbors, and such visits paid within good neighborhood relations are normal. He added that no issues against Azerbaijan were discussed in Ohanian's meetings with Iranian officials.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for over a decade. Peace talks brokered by the OSCE Minsk Group kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but have brought little tangible result so far. Armenia continues to occupy Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.