[caption id="attachment_92662" align="alignright" width="140"] Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pak-Ayin[/caption]
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Ambassador to Baku Mohsen Pakayeen underlined that the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be resolved only through political solutions.
"The (Nagorno-) Karabakh dispute does not have a military solution and it should be resolved through political means …," Ganjlik News magazine quoted Pakayeen as saying on Saturday.
The Iranian ambassador underlined that Iran is ready to help resolve the dispute, and said, "The prevailing situation in Karabakh is not acceptable and we want a fair solution to the dispute."
The Iranian envoy pointed to the status quo of Tehran-Baku relations, and said, "Constant contacts and exchange of visits by the two countries' officials … is a clear evidence of high-level political relations between Iran and Azerbaijan."
Pakayeen reiterated that continuation of cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan is crucial for regional stability, and said, "Both countries deem security and stability as important contributors to development, and they have cooperation and consultations with each other in this area."
Despite facing strong international pressure, the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders have failed to agree on the basic principles of ending the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict put forward by Russia, the United States and France in 2011.
Armenia and Azerbaijan thus remain officially at war over Nagorno-Karabakh and the dispute is a major source of tension in the South Caucasus region wedged between Iran, Russia and Turkey.
No country - not even Armenia - officially recognizes Karabakh as an independent state.
The mountainous rebel region has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since it broke free of Baku's control after a fierce war in the early 1990s that killed 30,000 people.
By Fars News Agency
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