Nagorno-Karabakh: Iran warns Armenia and Azerbaijan
An Armenian soldier fires at Azerbaijani positions, October 2, 2020. Screen capture from Armenian Defense Ministry video.
Armenian Defense Ministry via AP
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After mortars hit Iranian villages along the border, Tehran on Saturday warned against any "intrusion" into its territory by Armenian and Azerbaijani forces engaged in fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Six days after the resumption of
fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh
, Iran warns the two belligerents against any aggression against its territory.
"
Any intrusion on the territory of our country by one or the other of the parties to the conflict is intolerable (and) we seriously warn all the parties to take the necessary precautions in this regard
", warns this Saturday a press release from Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave with an Armenian majority, seceded from Azerbaijan, leading to a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.
The front has been almost frozen since despite regular clashes, such as those which resumed for a week between Baku and Yerevan.
Several mortars have landed in Iranian villages across the border with Nagorno-Karabakh since Monday, according to the official Irna agency.
A six-year-old child was injured on Wednesday after five mortars hit the village of Parviz Khanlou in East Azerbaijan province, damaging farms and residential buildings.
According to Irna, Ardabil's vice-governor, Behrouz Nedai, called on citizens to stay away from the conflict zone "
given the intensity of the fighting
".
According to Irna, "
a large number
" of those living along the border in the province of Ardabil "
watch the exchange of fire between Baku and Yerevan every day
".
A large Azeri community
Iran has a very large Azeri community, estimated at over 30 million people out of a total population of 80 million.
Demonstrations in support of Azerbaijan have taken place in recent days in several Azeri cities in the country.
Representatives of the Iranian Supreme Leader in several Azeri-majority provinces also issued a statement affirming that Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan, reports our correspondent in Tehran,
Siavosh Ghaz
i.
The Islamic Republic has also denied reports in some international media and social media that it is providing military assistance to Armenia.
For Tehran this conflict is particularly sensitive, because the country also has an Armenian community of several tens of approximately 300,000 inhabitants.
In Saturday's statement, the Islamic Republic renewed its appeal to the belligerents to end the fighting, saying it is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan launch talks.
The protests in favor of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Iran risk inflaming the ethnic, linguistic and even autonomist demands on the part of the Iranian Azeris.
Iranian national unity threatened: the analysis of Azadé Kiane, professor of sociology at the University of Paris and specialist in Iran
Sami Boukhelifa
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Armenia
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