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Image posted, EPA
There is concern that the actual number of military and civilian casualties on both sides of the conflict is much higher than the declared number, as the officially announced figures have not been independently confirmed.
Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, confirmed that Iran is “watching with interest” the rapid developments in the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno Karabakh, which is located on its western borders, adding that the Iranian authorities are in contact with the parties to the conflict and are ready to help resolve the crisis in the region.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also called on both sides of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh for an immediate ceasefire in the war between them.
At a press conference on Monday, Zadeh announced that Iran “has prepared a detailed plan to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan” and is “ready to discuss it with the parties to the conflict.”
Saeedzadeh added that Iran “calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia to respect the rights of civilians and prevent them from the scourge of war,” and said the two sides must realize that “Iran will not tolerate fighting on its borders.”
“We have told our friends in both countries to be careful,” he said.
Khatibzadeh confirmed that Iran had sought to be in contact with the capitals of the two conflicting parties and said that his country “is at the same distance from the two sides” and that it is in contact with regional actors.
He stressed that Iran “has prepared a project that it hopes will contribute to stopping the war as soon as possible and in light of preserving Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over its lands, the withdrawal of military forces and the start of negotiations and dialogue.”
Last week, Russia offered to host negotiations aimed at ending the fighting.
The NATO Secretary General, who is visiting Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, one of the two parties to the conflict, said: “It is very important that we send a clear and unquestionable message to all parties that the fight it must cease immediately and that we support all efforts aimed at reaching a peaceful solution through negotiation. “
“There is no military solution to this problem,” he added.
The roots and extent of the conflict
The current fighting appears to have broken out after Azerbaijani forces attempted to regain control of areas previously occupied by Armenian forces in the Karabakh war following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their homes in these areas between 1992 and 1994.
The recent escalation was followed by a year of tension, marked by a diplomatic confrontation in which both sides clung to their positions and exchanged aggressive language in their propaganda, as well as clashes in July in an area north of the international border between Armenia. and Azerbaijan.
On Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pledged to continue fighting until the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We have one condition: the Armenian forces must withdraw completely and without prior conditions from our lands,” said the Azerbaijani president.
Turkey had announced its support for Azerbaijan, while Russia, which has military bases in Armenia but is also friends with Azerbaijan, called for an immediate ceasefire.
Armenia accused Turkey of providing direct military support to Azerbaijan to help it gain control of the territories, a claim it recently denied.
