Tuesday, August 8 2017 18:17

ArmInfo.Another confirmation of the unacceptability of the use of force and deployment of peacekeepers in Karabakh is based on the interests of Armenia and  Artsakh.  Stepan Grigoryan, head of the Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation, expressed his opinion to ArmInfo.

On August 6, at a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in  Tehran, the re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, stressing  the importance of peace and stability in the region, said that the  Karabakh issue can be resolved solely through political means.  Rouhani also highly appreciated the presence at the inauguration of  Iran's good friend - the President of Armenia.

"Thus, the President of Iran once again confirmed the unacceptability  of the use of force and the deployment of peacekeepers for the  settlement of the Karabakh conflict, I am deeply convinced that such  a statement, actually directed against the violent version of the  resolution of the Karabakh conflict, Rouhani's statement has nothing  to do with the formalities and is addressed primarily to the  leadership of Azerbaijan," he said.

Grigoryan considers the Teheran's message to Baku to be especially  relevant against the backdrop of periodic threats from Azerbaijan, to  resolve the Karabakh problem through the use or threat of use of  force.

"Iran's categorical disagreement with the deployment of any foreign  military forces around Nagorno- Karabakh by any pretext does not  contradict the interests of the Armenian states, and therefore it is  not necessary to underestimate Tehran's statements of Rouhani," the  political scientist summed up.

After the Sargsyan-Rouhani meeting on August 7, at a briefing in  Tehran, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the  Islamic Republic of Iran, Bahram Kasemi, noting Tehran's interest in  the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, called upon Armenia and  Azerbaijan to dialogue. "We expect that they will be able to overcome  existing disagreements, and the settlement of the conflict will  strengthen stability and security in the region."

Noting that Teheran "closely monitor the ongoing processes in the  region," Kasemi said that Iran will not allow the conflict in the  neighboring territories to damage the Iranian population. He also  recalled that the prospect of involving third forces in the Karabakh  settlement remains a subject of constant concern for Tehran.