Iran Calls For Expansion Of Economic Ties With Azerbaijan

Seyed Abbas Mousavi, former Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman and newly appointed Iran’s Ambassador to Baku, is convinced that strengthening economic relations between Tehran and Baku is of “high priority.”

“The neighboring states will have an important role to play in the future of Tehran’s political and diplomatic relations with other countries due to the cruel sanctions imposed against Iran,” Mousavi said in a meeting with Governor-General of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province, Mohammad-Reza Pour-Mohammadi on July 24, according to a report by the state-owned news agency IRNA.

 

Referring to East Azerbaijan as a border province with the Republic of Azerbaijan, the ambassador said that the exchange of students and holding joint conferences with Azerbaijan can be effective in the expansion of bilateral relations.

Mousavi’s new position is challenging due to the fact that Azerbaijan and Armenia, both Iran’s neighbors, have been locked for decades in a conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region which is internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan. Tensions between the two South Caucasus countries mounted on July 12 after Armenia’s troops shelled at the border positions of the Azerbaijani army in the Tovuz region, in northwestern Azerbaijan.

During the clashes, Mousavi called for further self-restraint by both sides, and expressed Tehran’s readiness to mediate and reduce tensions between the two neighboring nations.

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In a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart on July 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif noted that Iran is always ready to support furthering the settlement of the conflict.”The protection of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan is a regional strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Zarif underlined, according to the official website of the Azerbaijani foreign ministry.The recent escalation of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan caused deaths on both sides. Azerbaijan has lost 12 servicemen and a civilian so far. Meanwhile, Armenian authorities confirmed four deaths, including one major and one captain throughout the armed clashes. However, social media users in Armenia claimed that the governmenteliberately hiding real numbers, which they believe is more than 30, of which seven are said to be officers.