Iran envoy warns against deployment of peacekeepers in Karabakh
By Sara Rajabova
Iran's Ambassador in Baku Mohsen Pak Ayeen has warned against possible deployment of peacekeeping forces in Karabakh, saying the move would cause new security problems in the region.
"The deployment of peacekeeping forces to the Karabakh region is not only an ineffective measure to resolve the region's dispute, but will create new security problems in the region," Pak Ayeen told Iranian news agency IRNA on Wednesday.
He said regional countries can present logical resolutions of the conflict, adding that states and organizations outside the region have no resolve to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
The Iranian envoy said, however, that the presence of peacekeeping troops in Karabakh is unlikely at the current juncture, saying the measure requires certain grounds which have not been provided yet.
He added that maintaining ties with the conflict parties would be an appropriate strategy for Iran, which holds the rotating presidency in the Non-Aligned Movement, to help strengthen peace and security in the region.
Pak Ayeen expressed Iran's readiness to help resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying Iran is willing to fulfill its duties to settle the problem if the conducive grounds are prepared.
Iran has on several occasions offered to mediate resolution of the dispute.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said earlier this month that Iran can act as a mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Mehmanparast noted that Iran supports a peaceful solution to the conflict. He said "we should do our best to prevent worsening of conflicts in the region, as people of the region suffer."
"In this course, Iran is ready to get involved in peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the Iranian ministry spokesman added.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994. However, a peace accord has never been signed and the dispute remains unresolved.
The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but Armenia has not followed them to this day.
Russia, France and the U.S. - co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - have long been working to broker a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.
Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.