“We’re ready to mediate if the conflict parties want us to,” Ansari said. “We think that under the current circumstances the conflict has to be resolved through negotiations within international organizations and the OSCE Minsk Group.”

The continuation of conflicts in the region will broaden the insecurity that has already covered the area, according to the spokesman.

He noted that the tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be eliminated.

“Since the deterioration of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, we kept in touch and held meetings with both sides, urging them to resolve the conflict by diplomatic means,” Ansari added.

As for whether or not Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif will participate in the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Baku, Ansari said the forum will be joined by Masoud Soltanifar, Iran’s Vice President and head of Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization, because Zarif’s schedule of visit is too tight.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

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