Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Holding the so-called "parliamentary elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh could escalate tensions in the region, the Iranian Foreign Ministry warned.

Highlighting Tehran's approach towards the fallacious polls, the ministry said Armenia and Azerbaijan's moves against one another could exacerbate already existing tensions and potentially set the region alight.

"Nothing has changed in Iran's position vis a vis the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The position has been reflected well in a joint statement adopted during President Hassan Rouhani's official visit to Azerbaijan. Iran urges both parties to avoid any actions that could lead to tensions in the region," the ministry noted.

Relying on the rulers in Yerevan the separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh are going to play hardball against Baku by holding fictitious "parliamentary elections" on May 3, 2015.

The Iranian side believes that the so-called "parliamentary elections" planned to be held in Nagorno-Karabakh could come as a move to undermine the regional security.

"Elections in the conflict zone could feed the flames of further military escalation in the region. We call on the belligerents to not resort to such moves," the ministry said.

Iran has joined the long list of countries standing in opposition to Armenia's aggressive and unlawful stance against Azerbaijan. Already the European Union, Palestine, Turkey, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Latvia, Italy, and Switzerland have slammed Yerevan for backing the illegal puppet regime in Nagorno-Karabakh in holding the “elections”.

In response to the puppet regime's election scam, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry earlier in February called the upcoming "parliamentary elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh illegitimate, underscoring it as a deliberate move aimed at deteriorating peace talks and preventing any breakthrough in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani authorities announced that they would interpret any step taken by the puppet regime in these territories as an act of aggression on another country's territory.

Armenia's armed invasion into Azerbaijan's legal territory resulted in a severe conflict pushing the two neighboring countries into a bitter territorial dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia-backed separatists seized from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the early 1990s.

Despite Baku's best efforts, peace in the occupied lands remains a mirage in the distance as Armenia refuses to comply with international law.

Baku proposed a Great Peace Agreement project to work jointly on the conflict's settlement. Yerevan refused of course to seize such peace opportunity, preferring instead to support the occupation.

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