Iranian FM hopes for peaceful end to Tajikistan event in talk with counterpart

IRI foreign minister in a phone talk with his Tajik counterpart emphasizing importance of preserving stability and security there, asked for self-constraint in peaceful solution of Badakhshan Province problem.

According to an IRNA Friday report, the Information and Media Head Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs further reported that Ali-Akbar Salehi and Hamrokhan Zarifi in the phone talk spoke about bilateral relations, regional developments and recent events in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan eastern province.

The Tajik top diplomat in the meeting presented a report on the latest status in that region.

Iran has expressed concern over the recent conflicts in Tajikistan, and underlined the necessity for the restoration of security and tranquility in the Central Asian country.

Last week, Security chief of Badakhshan province was killed by unknown armed persons. After the assassination, state forces clashed with armed assailants in which a number of people in both sides were killed or wounded.

Rebels in Tajikistan have refused to disarm or hand over a former warlord wanted by the authorities, increasing the chances that the government will launch a new military offensive against them, a senior security source said on Saturday.

Fighters in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region near the Afghan border are locked in a standoff with the government after President Imomali Rakhmon sent troops into the area on Tuesday to look for a former opposition warlord accused of killing a local security chief.