Press TV, Iran
Oct 23 2011

Iran, Azerbaijan urge enhanced ties
Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:30AM GMT

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad VahidiThe Islamic
Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan have highlighted the
significance of exchanging visits between the two countries’ officials
to improve relations.

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, who is on a
working visit to the Azeri capital of Baku, held talks with the
country’s President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday.

During the meeting, Aliyev and General Vahidi exchanged views on ways
to strengthen bilateral ties and called for the continuation of
consultations between Tehran and Baku, ISNA reported.

The Iranian minister also held a meeting with his Azeri counterpart
General Sefer Abiyev earlier in the day, during which the two sides
looked into ways to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Both Azerbaijan and Armenia lay claim on the Nagorno-Karabakh
territory, which is largely populated by Armenians but located in
Azerbaijan.

Ethnic Armenian forces took control over 16 percent of Azerbaijan
during a war which ran for a span of time between February 1988 and
May 1994.

The conflict left an estimated 30,000 people dead and one million
displaced. The dispute still remains unsettled.

The Islamic Republic has on several occasions offered to mediate in
the dispute.

SF/GHN

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress