IRANIAN TOP OFFICIAL: TALKS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT CAN BE CONDUCTED MORE EFFECTIVELY INSIDE REGION
Trend News Agency
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
June 28, 2011 Tuesday
Baku, Azerbaijan
by R.Hafizoglu and T. Jafarov, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan
June 28–28 JUNE / TREND R.HAFIZOGLU, Iran , Tehran — Iranian
Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani said the relations between
Azerbaijan and Iran are at a very high level.
“Azerbaijan is a neighbor country with Iran, is a Muslim and
fraternal country. Iran and Azerbaijan have historical ties, based
on deep roots. From this point of view, the relations between the two
countries in various spheres are at a very high level,” Larijani told
Trend on the eve of his visit to Azerbaijan on June 30.
Fortunately, in recent years, diplomatic negotiations have been
conducted to develop political, economic, cultural and social ties
between the two countries, and the relations continue to develop,
he said.
“With regards to the inter-parliamentary relations of the two
countries, a friendship group has been organized between the
parliaments, they are in constant contact with each other and hold
discussions,” Larijani said.
“We meet with our Azerbaijani friends in the international arena and
conduct negotiations with them. Our inter-parliamentary relations
are satisfactory, but we can improve these relations and share
experiences. The parliaments of both countries can adopt some joint
laws that can enable to create even better conditions for investments.
Thus, we can expand the cooperation between the parliaments of the
two countries in the field of legislation,” he stressed.
Another sphere in which the sides can cooperate is the international
inter-parliamentary community, Larijani said. Both countries
are members of the OIC Parliamentary Union and the International
Parliamentary Union. At the International Parliamentary Union, we
can together discuss many issues, including the situation in Muslim
countries, international issues, as well as issues of mutual interest
for both countries.
The third sphere in which we can cooperate is that the parliaments of
both countries support the implementation of projects of inter-state
importance.
“The potential that exists in the parliaments of both countries can
play a supporting role in implementing bilateral economic, political
and social projects,” he said.
He emphasized that a number of important issues exist to be discussed
at a political level. “This is a number of regional issues and the
issues of mutual interest for both countries, which will be discussed
during my visit to Azerbaijan,” he said.
“The parliaments of Iran and Azerbaijan have signed several cooperation
agreements. During my visit, we can also sign a number of other
agreements in spheres of interest for Azerbaijan,” Larijani added.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
“We have previously stated and now repeat that the regional conflicts
should be resolved through negotiations inside the region,” Larijani
said answering the question on possibility of Iran ‘s mediation in
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
Experience shows that when the big countries interfere in the solution
of regional conflicts, this conflict protracts. They pursue their
own goals in this regard, he stressed.
“The OSCE Minsk Group has been conducting talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement for several years. What results have been
achieved? How did they approach the solution of this? From this
point of view, we reasonably believe that the negotiations to resolve
such conflicts can be better conducted inside the region because the
region countries can better understand each other. I think that the
territorial integrity of the country must necessarily be taken into
account, and discussions should be conducted inside the region,”
Larijani said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group — Russia, France, and the U.S. —
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
Role of Iran and Turkey to resolve conflicts in the region
Larijani said Turkey is a very important country and Iran exchanges
views with this country in various fields.
“A well-known fact is that the economic cooperation between Iran and
Turkey is at a high level. Turkey also is a fraternal and friendly
country for us, we have sincere and good relations with this country,”
he said. “We closely and continuously exchange views on many events in
the region. The Leader of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini
said that the Muslim countries should always be friendly and united.
The strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is expressed in it.”
“If the Muslim countries unite assessing the existing capacity,
they can prevent the interference of many countries in the region,
which want to create problems there,” he added. “We can demonstrate
cooperation between Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey as the exemplary
cooperation in the region. All three countries well understand and
communicate with each other and cooperate in many spheres,”
Iran ‘s nuclear program
“There are no “knots” in Iran’s nuclear program, since there is
IAEA-developed special legal system for peaceful nuclear activities,”
Larijani said . He was commenting on relations between Iran and the
West over Tehran ‘s nuclear program.
He said the countries that have signed the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons operate under the control of
this system. “This organization should support the country that is
a member of the IAEA in the field of peaceful nuclear activities, as
well as help if it needs. I think that the problem in the discussions
regarding the peaceful nuclear activities of Iran is that the U.S. and
Western countries conduct the policy of “restrictions” against Iran,”
he stressed.
The U.S. and Western countries want the Muslim country not to have
knowledge in the field of nuclear technology, Larijani said. “They want
to keep nuclear technology in their hands. The reserves of natural
fuel will whenever exhaust, so they are already thinking about the
future. They want the Muslim world to depend on them after the natural
resources exhaust. So, they oppress Muslim countries in this regard.”
Another important factor is that the new technologies themselves create
potential for the development of science in Muslim countries.The
Western countries are concerned not only over the fact that Iran
possesses nuclear technology, but also the fact that Iran has succeeded
in other new technologies.
The main problem is that they do not want to be reconciled with the
changes which are taking place in the contemporary world.
“Today, it is impossible to put restrictions on science. Conditions
should also be created for other countries to develop new
technologies. Iran’s nuclear activities have faced unfriendly
policies of the United States and Western countries. They said one
thing repeatedly in discussions with the West, or at closed meetings,
but expressed a different position after the meetings,” he said.
System of law in Iran
“Iran is a country that relies on the people and democracy,” Larijani
said . “From this point of view, there can be some controversies every
time.” He was commenting on criticism of the Iranian parliament to
address certain public officials.
In general, differences arise in various fields in order to
specialize. Thus, the parliament approves any provision to develop
the industrial sphere, makes a decision how to assist the development
of agriculture or identify ways how to solve some problems existing
in the country’s economy, he added.
Parliament, as a controlling body, sees the flaws and shortcomings
in some executive agencies and wants to solve them. “The presence
of shortages related to law violations in some government agencies
is natural. Maybe, the executive authority has not fulfilled some
law. In this case, the parliament is obliged to remind them about it
and make corrections. Our views on the issues have the same goal —
to make changes and corrections,” he stressed.
“The control, criticism and comments serve one purpose — to raise
the country to the “peak of development,” he said.