Raeisi: Iran supports Yerevan-Baku peace talks
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi said Tehran supports peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan amid a territorial dispute between Iran’s two neighbors.
Raeisi made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Tehran on Monday.
The Iranian president said that the problems in the region should be settled by the regional countries, stressing that foreign interference only complicates the problems.
Raeisi said that Iran supports peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. He expressed hope that the talks would lead to the establishment of peace and security in the region.
The Iranian president underlined that Tehran does not accept any geopolitical changes at borders of the regional countries and supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the countries of the region.
Earlier in the day, the Armenian foreign minister held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. During the meeting, Iran’s top diplomat reaffirmed Tehran’s call for comprehensive and sustainable peace in the Caucasus region and warned against foreign exploitation of the situation there.
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran focuses on the establishment of peace in the Caucasus region and welcomes progress in peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“We believe that enhanced peace and security among the neighbors can serve the common interests of regional countries,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
Amir-Abdollahian further said the Caucasus region should not turn into a conflict zone and a battlefield among powers because it would postpone the establishment of regional peace.
Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan remain relatively high nearly two years after the arch-foes fought a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The six-week conflict, which claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides, ended in November 2020 with a Russian-brokered deal.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been populated by ethnic Armenians. Russia has deployed 1,960 peacekeepers to the region for an initial five-year period. Since the truce, the two sides have accused each other of breaching the peace deal.