Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the remarks on Saturday after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Sedat Onal, in Ankara. During the meeting, he discussed a proposal that foresees the Islamic Republic, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia boosting a standing Minsk Group that has failed to resolve decades of the territorial dispute between Baku and Yerevan.
Referring to the features of Tehran’s initiative, which includes a ceasefire, discontinuation of attacks on residential areas and civilians, as well as the return of the displaced to their homes, Araghchi pointed to the inability of the previous approaches to providing a final solution to the ongoing crisis.
“We do not reject other mechanisms such as that of the Minsk Group; in fact, our initiative does not replace the Minsk initiatives, but it complements it, and we seek to support the current efforts of the Minsk Group and cover its weaknesses through a regional approach and the use of collective efforts in the region to resolve this crisis.”
The Iranian diplomat added, "We are waiting for the response by the four countries [Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, and Turkey] in a short time in order to pave the way for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh in a way that is accepted by all.”
"Immediate implementation of the plan is not easy, but we are not disappointed and we will continue our efforts,” Araghchi noted.
Araghchi embarked on a regional tour on Tuesday, which first took him to Baku and then to Moscow, Yerevan and Ankara to present Iran's initiative for solving the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis peacefully.
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