Baku: Iran Ready To Aid Solution On Nagorno-Karabakh, Lawmaker Says

IRAN READY TO AID SOLUTION ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH, LAWMAKER SAYS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
June 24 2013

24 June 2013, 12:49 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova

An Iranian lawmaker has expressed Tehran’s readiness to facilitate
resolution of the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The remarks were made by Kazzem Jalali, an Iranian legislator and
Head of the Parliament’s Research Center, on a visit to Baku June 21,
according to Iranian media.

Jalali noted, however, that Tehran’s involvement in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement would be subject to a request
and the approval of both sides.

“We believe that settling the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has a political solution and this
problem should be resolved by the regional countries and the neighbors
close to the region,” Jalali said.

Jalali said Iran has defended Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in
all international organizations, including the United Nations, the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU). Iran will continue to defend the neighboring country’s
integrity in the future, he added.

Jalali further urged all OIC member countries to play a more active
role in resolving issues facing the Islamic world, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Iran has on several occasions offered to mediate the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Recently, Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pak Ayeen said that
Iran was ready to assist in the resolution of the conflict. He noted
that Iran’s good relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia allow it to
help settle the conflict.

“Disruption of security in the region could also harm Iran’s security.

The unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its re-ignition pose a
threat to the region,” Pak Ayeen said.

He said the fact that Iran borders the conflict zone could undermine
the country’s security, adding, “Establishment of peace will be useful
not only for Azerbaijan and Armenia, but also for the entire region,
including Iran. Therefore, the conflict should be resolved peacefully
as soon as possible.”

Pak Ayeen added that Iran, as the chair of the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM), could avail of its relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia
to help resolve the Karabakh dispute as soon as possible and in line
with Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against the neighboring country. Since a lengthy
war between the two South Caucasus countries that displaced over
a million Azerbaijanis and ended with the signing of a precarious
cease-fire in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent
of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on a pullout from the occupied territories.

Peace talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the
United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far.

The negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed
by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also
known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the
territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control;
determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor
linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally
displaced persons to return home.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress