The Nagorny Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan can only be resolved by the countries themselves, Iran's ambassador to Azerbaijan said on Monday.
In an interview with the Baku-based Trend news agency, Muhammad Bagir Bahrami said countries outside the region "are only pursuing their own agendas and view the Nagorny Karabakh issue as a means of furthering their own interests."
He stressed that the parties to the conflict should solve it "by making an independent decision."
The envoy said Iran could act as a mediator in the conflict, because as it borders on both the former Soviet republics it "cannot remain indifferent."
The issue of Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway region inside Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia. More than 30,000 people are estimated to have died on both sides between 1988 and 1994.
Armenia and Azerbaijan last Monday agreed a preamble to an agreement on Nagorny Karabakh, revising and updating the OSCE Madrid principles.
The Madrid principles, adopted in November 2007, envisage a stage-by-stage resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict that should start with the gradual liberation of parts of Azerbaijan bordering Karabakh that were partly or fully occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces during the 1991-94 war. In return, Karabakh should retain a corridor to Armenia and be able to determine its final status in a future referendum.
BAKU, February 1 (RIA Novosti)
