Upon his arrival at the Baku airport, the top diplomat said he is happy to see Azerbaijan having regained control over occupied territories from Armenia.
Zarif further said that Iran is “ready to help” people in Azerbaijan return to their homes in the liberated territories “as soon as possible.”
He also reaffirmed his country’s commitment to reconstruction efforts in war-torn Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but had been under the occupation of ethnic Armenian separatists.
The territories were freed from Armenian occupation after a months-long armed conflict between the two warring sides that ended with a Moscow-brokered truce in November last year.
Zarif, whose visit to Azerbaijan and other regional countries had been postponed earlier, is scheduled to hold talks with top Azerbaijani officials on Monday.
Among the issues to figure prominently in the discussions are reconstruction efforts in war-torn Karabakh and the implementation of joint economic projects.
The two sides reached an agreement last week to boost economic cooperation, with Baku welcoming Iran’s offer to contribute to the reconstruction work in Karabakh.
The regional tour will also take Zarif to Armenia, Russia and Turkey this week, which he said is aimed at the promotion of regional cooperation and expansion of bilateral relations.
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