Iran Urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to Show Self-Restraint
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan to exercise restraint amid the recent escalation of conflicts between the two neighbors.
Zarif on Tuesday held separate telephone conversations with his Azeri and Armenian counterparts to discuss the latest escalation of tension between the two countries over the Karabakh region.
The Iranian top diplomat urged the two parties to exercise restraint and start negotiations to peacefully settle their conflicts.
He also expressed Tehran's preparedness to help end the ongoing tensions, according to the Foreign Ministry’s website.
Exchanges of fire between Armenian and Azeri forces began on Sunday near Tavush in the rugged South Caucasus region, with each side accusing the other of encroaching on their territory.
The two former Soviet republics have for decades been locked in a simmering conflict over Karabakh – an Azerbaijani territory seized by Armenian separatists in a bloody war in the 1990s.
Some 30,000 people were killed in the conflict, which ended with a fragile truce in 1994. The two sides are still technically at war and have yet to reach a permanent peace agreement on the issue.
