Tehran concerned on Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Iran concerned about the consequences of Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan.

Chairman of Iran's Culture and Islamic Communications Organization Abuzar Ibrahimi Turkman made the remark at a meeting with Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, AzerTag news agency reported.

Khalafov expressed pleasure with the development of the bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Iran, noting the documents signed during the visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Azerbaijan were vivid examples of dynamic development of the bilateral relations.

Touching upon the regional peace and security issues, Khalafov said Azerbaijan highly assesses the position and political will of Iran it demonstrates in the question of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Turkman, for his part, expressed Iran’s deep concern over heavy sequences of Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan.

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. Long-standing efforts by U.S, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Tehran has repeatedly offered to mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 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.

Turkman further underlined existence of rich common historical-cultural bonds between the two countries, noting the necessity of further development of these ties.

He also said the Organization he supervises functions in more than 60 world counties to promote the development of cultural relations.

Iran and Azerbaijan have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

Tehran has in recent years focused seriously on development of ties with neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan which enjoys various commonalties with Iran in religious, historical and cultural fields.