Azerbaijan-Armenia peace will serve interests of all regional countries: Iran foreign minister

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia will serve the interests of all countries in the region.

In a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian welcomed an agreement by Azerbaijan and Armenia to solve their existing disputes.

He added that regional countries have the capacity to settle their differences on their own and help establish peace and stability in the region, warning that the presence of extra-regional powers would further complicate the situation in the region.

The top Iranian diplomat stressed the importance of making use of the regional countries' capacities, including the 3+3 format of cooperation, to promote peace and guarantee the peace agreement in the Caucasus region.

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The 3+3 format features the three South Caucasus countries of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan plus Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

It was created in 2020 to promote peace and development in South Caucasus and resolve outstanding issues such as the status of Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan recaptured the long-disputed Karabakh region in a September lightning offensive against Armenian separatist forces, which prompted over 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee the region.  

After just one day of fighting, Armenian separatist authorities, which had controlled Karabakh for three decades, surrendered and agreed to reintegrate with Baku.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have said they are close to signing a peace agreement based on the recognition of each other's territorial integrity.

The long-disputed region of Karabakh was at the center of two costly wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 and the 1990s.

Elsewhere in the meeting, the foreign minister said Iran's foreign policy attaches importance to improvement of relations with neighboring countries, including Armenia.

Tehran and Yerevan enjoy positive and growing relations, but they should accelerate the implementation of the agreements already reached between the two sides, particularly in the economic fields, Amir-Abdollahian added.

The Armenian premier, for his part, hailed developing mutual relations and called for preparing the ground for the expansion of ties.

Pashinyan commended Iran's principled stance on regional developments which would help establish sustainable peace in the Caucasus.

Iran and Armenia should make all the necessary preparations for boosting trade exchanges, he emphasized.

Iran, Armenia eye increasing trade exchange to $3bn: Amir-Abdollahian

In a meeting with Armenia's Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian said the two countries are expanding relations but should make further efforts to increase the value of trade exchanges to 3 billion dollars.

He added that Iran's principled and fixed policy is based on safeguarding international borders and respecting the countries' territorial integrity.

Regional issues must be solved by the countries in the region, the top Iranian diplomat pointed out.

Grigoryan said his country enjoys the highest level of dynamic relations with Iran and hailed Tehran's support for Armenia's territorial integrity.

Armenia is determined to further boost relations with Iran, he added.

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