Ending Occupation Key to Resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh Dispute: Iranian Official

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session on Wednesday, Mahmoud Vaezi commented on the recent flare-up of fighting between Iran’s northwestern neighbors, saying disagreement between Baku and Yerevan will continue as long as there are occupied territories.

“This occupation should be terminated, and the international boundaries be the basis for talks. This is what we have announced in the past, and announce here as well. Our stance is clear,” the president’s chief of staff noted.

“The conflict would not be resolved through war. We must remain committed to a series of principles, and the principles that Iran has announced since the beginning are very clear. We believe that the main principle should be based on negotiations and understanding. Territorial integrity of the countries must be recognized,” Vaezi added.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has expressed Tehran’s stances in separate telephone conversations with the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia, he said.

“We, as a country that shares common border with both warring sides, cannot remain indifferent to the issue that the war is happening near us,” the Iranian president’s chief of staff noted, saying Tehran will be doing its utmost to end the war with a negotiated solution, IFP reported.

Iran has already called on Baku and Yerevan to stop armed clashes and launch talks to settle the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region politically.