Tehran, Oct 21, IRNA – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan welcomed Iran's constructive attitudes towards the ongoing clash between Armenia and Azerbaijan and described Iran as an important country with a fundamental regional role that can play a major role in putting an end to the military operations.

The Armenian Prime Minister made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Tehran-based newspaper, Iran, on Wednesday.

Foreign countries are attempting to interfere in the region through various methods, but Armenia is trying to guard its friend Iran from any harms, said Pashinyan in the interview.

On a phone call on September 30, President Hassan Rouhani and Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed worry over foreign attempts to interfere in the issue.

President Hassan Rouhani voiced Iran's readiness to resolve the ongoing dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.


Expressing regret over mortars hitting Iranian soil, Pashinyan told the Iranian Newspaper that his country will not spare any efforts to keep Iran away from the harms of the clash.

He also welcomed Iran’s constructive steps which could help restore peace and calm in the region.

Regarding foreign interference, he said the terrorist mercenaries who have been transferred to Azerbaijan by Turkey expose a dire danger to the region, stressing that regional countries should deal with this issue in a more serious manner.

Answering a question about whether the clashes may change into an all-out war and whether the world powers may interfere in the region, Pashinyan said Azerbaijan is frequently using Israeli drones, which shows that foreign powers are interfering in the region with various methods.

Except for the Minsk Group (the US, Russia, and France), no foreign interference is welcomed, the Armenian Prime Minister reiterated.

However, he noted, the group has failed to play a role in the developments so, in spite of their statements, they have so far not succeeded in affecting developments.

Answering a question about the obstacles to a ceasefire and the reasons for the continuation of clashes even after the Moscow meeting on Saturday, he said Turkey is clearly trying to impede the ceasefire because they have certain goals.

He stressed that the issue is that Turkey is after reviving the empire through making its presence in east, north, south, and southeast of Nagorno-Karabakh, which will directly affect all the regional countries.

Regional counties need to consider the fact and take appropriate stances, he noted.

Earlier, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stressed Tehran's readiness to help achieve sustainable peace and solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh region dispute within the framework of a regional initiative by Iran, Turkey and Russia, and the Minsk Group.

Zarif said Iran is prepared to help achieve sustainable peace and solution to the dispute within the framework of the regional initiative by Iran, Turkey, and Russia, as well as Minsk Group.

Iran has repeatedly asked for a settlement of the conflict and urged the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh started in 1988 and led to military conflict in 1992.

Last week, the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers through Russia's mediation agreed to a ceasefire but the immediate violation of the ceasefire suggested the truce agreement was fragile.

Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed clashes on the border between the two countries in early October, each blaming the other for the violence.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been a bone of contention between the two countries over the past decades.

In 1994, following four years of military conflict between the two countries, some European and regional governments stepped in to end the territorial dispute between Baku and Yerevan, and a ceasefire was finally established through the mediation of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). But international efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully have failed so far.

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