Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran opposes the deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Commenting on the possible deployment of peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Tehran's Ambassador to Yerevan Mohammad Reis said Iran is against such initiative, Armenian media reported.

Reis said the settlement of the issue depends on Armenia, Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group.

"I am sure the deployment of foreign forces would jeopardize security in the region. Striking examples are Iraq and Afghanistan," he said on July 18.

Also Reis noted that Iran is against any violence in the region, and supports a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Tehran has repeatedly offered to mediate in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the agreement of the parties.

Earlier, Iranian Ambassador to Baku Mohsen Pak Ayeen said the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the main goals of Iran's foreign policy.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 after Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in the conflict, which impedes the development of the region, as Armenia continues its policy of aggression.

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.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.