Iran welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan cease-fire agreement

“The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes Russia’s mediation between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the acceptance of the cease-fire on the part of the sides to the Karabakh dispute,” the Iranian president’s chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday, according to Press TV.

Vaezi reiterated that Iran’s position was that countries had to respect internationally-recognized borders and citizenship rights.

“We believe,” the Iranian official said, “that if the sides… remain committed to international law, including on the territorial integrity of countries and citizenship rights, negotiations and [the pursuance of] a political solution will be able to end this long-running dispute.”

He hoped that the cease-fire agreement would be implemented.

The leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia signed a statement late on Monday to end the war in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The cease-fire agreement came into effect overnight.

Azerbaijan and Armenia had been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh since September 27. Russia several times attempted to mediate an end to the war.

Iran, which shares borders with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, has previously offered to mediate between the two countries. Most recently, the Islamic Republic put forward a specific peace initiative to end the conflict.