In Baku, Iranian president clarifies Iran’s position on Karabakh conflict

Tabnak – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who has been on an official tour to two Caspian states, visited Azerbaijan’s capital Baku today to discuss with the Azeri officials issues of bilateral interest. Rouhani’s visit is seen as a new effort to cement ties with its geopolitically-important northern neighbor.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Rouhani arrived in Baku on Wednesday at the official invitation of his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev. During his visit to Azerbaijan, Rouhani held talks with Aliyev on a range of issues, including ways to deepen bilateral ties and the latest developments in the region and the world.

In a press conference after his meeting with Aliyev, Rouhani underlined the need for respecting the territorial integrity of all countries, saying the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Karabakh must be settled through diplomacy.

“The territorial integrity of countries and the geography of the region should not be changed,” Rouhani said at a joint press conference with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Wednesday, adding that Iran and Azerbaijan agreed that regional crises must be resolved through political means.

“We believe that the Karabakh issue must be solved through political means, and with the efforts of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, we should see more stability in the region,” he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said that close relations between the two governments and nations of Iran and Azerbaijan serve the interests of the two countries, the region and the world.

The Iranian president also said the cooperation agreements signed between the two sides would benefit not only Iran and Azerbaijan but also the region and the world.

Aliyev for his part hailed Baku-Tehran relations, saying the two countries had always supported each other in the international scene. He also backed further promotion of economic and trade ties as well as development of joint ventures between the two neighbors.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran and Azerbaijan signed eight cooperation agreements to promote ties in different sectors, including in the development of oil exploration blocks in the Caspian Sea.

The memoranda also include cooperation in the industrial and economic sectors, joint ventures in the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway, as well as cooperation in the sectors of health, cultural exchange and sports.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, a section of the abovementioned railway - part of the North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) – was launched linking the Iranian city of Astara to the Azerbaijani city of the same name.

Rouhani’s Baku visit is part of Tehran’s evolving policy to reroute trade to the places which are less susceptible to outside arm-twisting as the country is facing a D-day set by US President Donald Trump to possibly abandon an international nuclear agreement with Iran.