Armenian FM hails Iran's constructive role in int'l issues

Moscow, Oct 30, IRNA – Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said that Iran has a responsible and constructive stance on regional and global security issues. In an interview with Ria Novosti on Iran's initiative for peaceful settlement of conflict on Thursday, he added that Iran is a very important country in the region and unlike Turkey, it takes a constructive and responsible position regarding regional and global security issues. Turkey is not an impartial player, as it sees the conflict as an opportunity to penetrate another of its neighbors in the South Caucasus, he said. Only impartial countries can participate in the mechanism for sending peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh, Mnatsakanyan reiterated. The dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh started in 1988 and led to military conflict in 1992. Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed clashes on the border between the two countries in early October, each blaming the other for the violence. Nagorno-Karabakh has been a bone of contention between the two countries over the past decades. In 1994, following four years of military conflict between the two countries, some European and regional governments stepped in to end the territorial dispute between Baku and Yerevan, and a ceasefire was finally established through the mediation of the Minsk Group, consisting of the US, Russia, and France. But international efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully have failed so far.