Iran, Russia urge immediate ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Tehran, Oct 2, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov reviewed latest developments in Nagorno-Karabakh in a phone call late on Friday, calling for immediate ceasefire in the region. They also called for easing tension and avoiding provocative remarks over the issue in the region. Both sides expressed serious concern over the conflict, saying that regional states, especially neighbors of Azerbaijan and Armenia, can play an important role in creating the right conditions for the parties to return to the negotiating table rapidly. Lavrov stressed that Russia, both in its national capacity and within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Chairs, will continue its mediatory efforts to support settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through political and diplomatic means. Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed clashes on the border between the two countries on Sunday, September 27, blaming each other for the violence. Nagorno-Karabakh has been a bone of contention between the two countries over the recent decades. In 1994, following four years of military conflict between the two countries, some European and regional governments stepped in to end the territorial dispute between Baku and Yerevan, and a ceasefire was finally established through the mediation of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). But international efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully have so far been unsuccessful.