IRI Ambassador to Azerbaijan Republic Mohsen Paka'ien referring to viewpoints expressed by President-elect Hassan Rowhani on foreign relations, evaluated Tehran-Baku relations as "very brilliant during Iran's future governmentˈ, IRNA reported.
Speaking to IRNA in Baku, the Iranian ambassador added, "Both in his election campaign and in his first press conference, Dr. Rowhani attached a special significance to his government's foreign policy and Azerbaijan Republic, as a strategic neighbor, would definitely preserve its special position in the new Iranian government's foreign policy."
Paka'ien noted that ever since Azerbaijan Republic gained its independence the two countries' relations have always been expanding, adding, "Iran-Azerbaijan relations, due to the existence of lots of historical, cultural, and religious commonalties, as well as long shared borders between the two counties and mutual interests, are strategic relations."
The Iranian ambassador referring to the role of the next Iranian government reiterated, "The Karabak dispute is intermingled with the security of the regional countriesˈ security.ˈ
Being located in the vicinity of Armenia and Azerbaijan republics' war zones, Iran is naturally more sensitive about this issue.
He said, "The continuation of enmities, and probably the outbreak of any war in this sensitive region, would willingly or unwillingly leave negative effects on Iran and therefore, we wish this dispute to be solved as soon as possible peacefully."
The Iranian envoy pointed out that in this way, Tehran keeps in mind the past experiences and its status at the international scene, and is ready for offering assistance, reiterating, ˈThe spent time for solving this dispute has got too long and we do not consider this in the interest of the region.ˈ
Paka'ien added, ˈThat is because the continuation of Karabak dispute would be a serious challenge for the economic development of the regional countries, particularly the countries in the vicinity of Armenia and Azerbaijan republics.ˈ
He said, "The Minsk Group and the European Cooperation Group do not show to have a strong incentive for solving this dispute, and the strong ultra-regional countries that are members of the Minsk Group are involved in issues such as the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, and therefore the Karabak issue is of trivial importance for them.ˈ
Pak'aein emphasized at the end, "We believe this dispute can be solved merely thru the assistance of the regional countries."