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Iran backs prospective peace deal between Armenia Azerbaijan to end conflict

· 2 min read

Iran backs prospective peace deal between Armenia, Azerbaijan to end conflict​

TEHRAN - Iran has voiced support for a potential peace agreement unveiled by Armenia and Azerbaijan, aimed at resolving a nearly 40-year territorial dispute.

Iran backs prospective peace deal between Armenia, Azerbaijan to end conflict

In a statement on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei praised the development as “a vital and necessary step” toward securing “lasting peace” in the South Caucasus. He expressed optimism that both nations would resolve lingering disagreements through continued dialogue and finalize the treaty promptly.

The breakthrough came after Armenia and Azerbaijan announced on Thursday that they had finalized the text of a peace deal. Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stated, “The negotiation process on the peace agreement text with Armenia has concluded,” noting that Armenia had accepted Baku’s proposals on two previously contentious clauses.

Armenia’s foreign ministry confirmed the progress in a separate announcement, declaring that “negotiations on the draft agreement have concluded” and that the treaty is “ready for signing.” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the milestone as “significant,” affirming Yerevan’s readiness to “discuss the timing and venue for formalizing the agreement.”

“We consider this text a compromise, as any peace agreement should be,” Pashinyan remarked. However, he acknowledged that two key issues remained unresolved until the final stages: a provision barring the “deployment of third-party forces” along the shared border and disagreements over mutual withdrawal of legal claims from international courts.

Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has fueled decades of hostility, including two devastating wars in the 1990s and 2020.

In 2020, Azerbaijan made significant territorial gains in a six-week war that killed thousands on both sides, before Moscow brokered a ceasefire deal that included the deployment of 1,960 Russian peacekeepers to the region for a five-year period.

Following the truce, the two sides had accused each other of breaching the peace deal.

source: tehrantimes.com