Iran’s FM calls for strengthening regional mechanisms for peace, convergence

TEHRAN

Iran’s foreign minister in a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart on Saturday emphasized the importance of strengthening regional mechanisms for regional peace.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, according to a statement issued by Iran’s foreign ministry, in a telephone conversation with Jeyhun Bayramov discussed bilateral and regional issues.

Iran’s top diplomat stressed the importance of “strengthening regional mechanisms” to “bring peace and strengthen convergence in the region."

Amir-Abdollahian noted that the activation of formats for regional cooperation will bring benefits to regional countries, including Iran and Azerbaijan.

Bayramov, for his part, “emphasized the need to strengthen regional dialogues and mechanisms away from the interference of extra-regional countries."

While expressing satisfaction with the strengthening of bilateral relations, the two sides emphasized the importance of “increasing and strengthening cooperation” in regional and international arenas.

Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have seen ups and downs over the years, with tensions spiraling after the January attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in the Iranian capital.

Following the attack, which killed the embassy's security staff head and injured two others, Azerbaijan decided to evacuate the embassy and airlift all the diplomatic staff in a special plane.

In recent months, officials of the two countries have held discussions at multiple levels in order to iron out differences and give fresh impetus to their bilateral ties.

Last month, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Mohammad Baqeri, said Azerbaijan has succeeded in reclaiming lost land and restoring territorial integrity, referring to the restoration of constitutional order in Karabakh.

His remarks came after Khalaf Khalafov, a veteran Azerbaijani diplomat and special aide to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, visited Tehran and held meetings with Iranian political and military officials.

In his meeting with Khalafov at the time, President Ebrahim Raisi deemed it necessary to improve ties between Tehran and Baku and to “counter the plots designed to sow discord” between them.

The two countries share a 765 km (475 mi) border, and Iran is also home to a large ethnic Azerbaijani population.