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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Azerbaijan counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov discussed regional developments at a meeting in Iran's northern city of Ramsar.

Speaking about the recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Zarif called for truce, voicing Iran's readiness to act as a mediator between Yerevan and Baku to resolve the existing crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ILNA news agency reported.

"We should join efforts to rule out witnessing new crisis in the region," ILNA quoted Zarif as saying.

He further pointed to his phone conversation with Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, regarding Karabakh conflict and called for establishing peace in the region.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The situation on the contact line remains tense.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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