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Trend Daily News (Azerbaijan)
February 14, 2015 Saturday 5:37 PM GMT +4
Iran's mediation not enough to solve Karabakh conflict
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 14
By Umid Niayesh, Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran alone can't solve Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
other states also are important, Hassan Beheshtipour, Iranian expert
on international affairs told Trend Feb. 14.
Iran can play a key role in resolving the conflict, Beheshtipour said,
adding, "of course, the role of other countries, such as Russia and
the US should not be disregarded. The intermediation of Iran is not
sufficient to resolve the problem."
Beheshtipour said that Iran's stance regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is to secure Azerbaijan's sovereignty and wants the conflict
to be resolved as soon as possible.
"Iran says rights of Nagorno-Karabakh people should be met and
sovereignty of Azerbaijan should be secured," the expert added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result
of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent
of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven
surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently
holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
While commenting on the current level of the ties between the two
neighboring countries Beheshtipour said that after the visit of
Iranian and Azerbaijani presidents on the sidelines of the World
Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos last year, relations between
the two countries were improved significantly.
Visits of high-ranking officials of the two sides show that both Iran
and Azerbaijan are determined to remove hurdles and expand bilateral
cooperation, he added.
Beheshtipour said bilateral ties have been facing with problems over
the past years, especially relations between Iran and Armenia and
relations between Azerbaijan and Israel have created problems in
Tehran-Baku ties.
For the time being, such sensitive issues have been alleviated and the
two countries think about expanding bilateral relations far from
political interests, he noted.
"There was a speculation in Iran that Israel may use Azerbaijan's
territory to attack Iran, but Azerbaijani official have stressed that
such a thing will not happen," the expert explained.
He further noted that the volume of propaganda against each other in
the two countries' mass media has also decreased and the media have
helped improvement of the relations.
Any improvement in bilateral relations will be beneficial for both
people and governments, Beheshtipour said, adding that in this line
upcoming visit of the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to
Baku will be a welcome opportunity to resolve the extant problems.
The two countries should not entwine their relations to a third
country, he stressed.
The Iranian FM is scheduled to visit Baku on Feb.16 at the invitation
of the Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
During the visit, the Iranian top diplomat will hold several
high-level meetings and discuss the intensification of the bilateral
relations.
Beheshtipour also forecasted that the lifting of sanctions against
Iran within the framework of nuclear talks with the West can give
Azerbaijan more freedom to improve relations with Iran.
Iran and the P5+1 (the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany)
group have extend their negotiations to reach a comprehensive nuclear
deal, with the aim of reaching a high-level political agreement by
March 1, and confirming the full technical details of the agreement by
July 1.
After the sides failed to meet the November 24, 2014 deadline they
also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed in November
2013 to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran
agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
The US and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear
weapon - something that Iran denies.
February 14, 2015 Saturday 5:37 PM GMT +4
Iran's mediation not enough to solve Karabakh conflict
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 14
By Umid Niayesh, Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran alone can't solve Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
other states also are important, Hassan Beheshtipour, Iranian expert
on international affairs told Trend Feb. 14.
Iran can play a key role in resolving the conflict, Beheshtipour said,
adding, "of course, the role of other countries, such as Russia and
the US should not be disregarded. The intermediation of Iran is not
sufficient to resolve the problem."
Beheshtipour said that Iran's stance regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is to secure Azerbaijan's sovereignty and wants the conflict
to be resolved as soon as possible.
"Iran says rights of Nagorno-Karabakh people should be met and
sovereignty of Azerbaijan should be secured," the expert added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result
of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent
of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven
surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently
holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
While commenting on the current level of the ties between the two
neighboring countries Beheshtipour said that after the visit of
Iranian and Azerbaijani presidents on the sidelines of the World
Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos last year, relations between
the two countries were improved significantly.
Visits of high-ranking officials of the two sides show that both Iran
and Azerbaijan are determined to remove hurdles and expand bilateral
cooperation, he added.
Beheshtipour said bilateral ties have been facing with problems over
the past years, especially relations between Iran and Armenia and
relations between Azerbaijan and Israel have created problems in
Tehran-Baku ties.
For the time being, such sensitive issues have been alleviated and the
two countries think about expanding bilateral relations far from
political interests, he noted.
"There was a speculation in Iran that Israel may use Azerbaijan's
territory to attack Iran, but Azerbaijani official have stressed that
such a thing will not happen," the expert explained.
He further noted that the volume of propaganda against each other in
the two countries' mass media has also decreased and the media have
helped improvement of the relations.
Any improvement in bilateral relations will be beneficial for both
people and governments, Beheshtipour said, adding that in this line
upcoming visit of the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to
Baku will be a welcome opportunity to resolve the extant problems.
The two countries should not entwine their relations to a third
country, he stressed.
The Iranian FM is scheduled to visit Baku on Feb.16 at the invitation
of the Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
During the visit, the Iranian top diplomat will hold several
high-level meetings and discuss the intensification of the bilateral
relations.
Beheshtipour also forecasted that the lifting of sanctions against
Iran within the framework of nuclear talks with the West can give
Azerbaijan more freedom to improve relations with Iran.
Iran and the P5+1 (the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany)
group have extend their negotiations to reach a comprehensive nuclear
deal, with the aim of reaching a high-level political agreement by
March 1, and confirming the full technical details of the agreement by
July 1.
After the sides failed to meet the November 24, 2014 deadline they
also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed in November
2013 to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran
agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
The US and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear
weapon - something that Iran denies.