Larijani: Iran Ready To Help Resolve Karabakh Dispute

Tehran, April 30, IRNA – Iran's Majlis Speaker here Monday stressed regional countriesˈ full capability of resolving their own problems through close cooperation, adding that Tehran is ready to contribute to help resolve the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Ali Larijani made the comment in a meeting with visiting Secretary of Azerbaijan’s National Security Council Ramiz Mehdiyev, adding “In this regard, the Islamic Republic stresses its readiness to contribute to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis thru diplomatic channels,” he said. Larijani pointed to numerous cultural, religious and geographical commonalities between the two countries, describing Tehran-Baku relations as brotherly and friendly. He underlined the significance of using the potentials of the two countries to develop bilateral political, economic and cultural ties, adding that the Iranian Islamic Parliament supports any approach aimed at boosting cooperation and relations based on mutual respect and common interests. Mehdiyev, for his part, said that Iran is a friend of Azerbaijan and there are deeply historical bonds between the people of the two states. Mehdiyev said that there are efforts made by certain foreign countries to disturb friendly relations between Tehran and Baku, urging the consolidation of relations. He also welcomed Iran’s efforts to help the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is largely populated by Armenians but located in Azerbaijan. Ethnic Armenian forces took control over the enclave which accounts for 16 percent of Azerbaijan in the early 1990s during a six-year war with the country that took place from February 1988 to May 1994. The conflict left an estimated 30,000 people dead and one million displaced before the two sides agreed to a cease-fire in 1994. However, a peace accord has never been signed and the dispute still remains unsettled. Iran has on several occasions offered to intervene in the dispute./end