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Karabakh conflict should be resolved through peaceful negotiations, Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pak Ayeen said in an interview with Human Rights and Freedoms in Azerbaijan magazine, Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars reported.

Commenting on Iran’s position on Karabakh, Mohsen Pak Ayeen said, in part, “Armenia and Azerbaijan have been conflicting over Karabakh for years. Regrettably, the negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group have not yielded any result. I am convinced that the military resolution of Karabakh conflict will do the region no good. Karabakh conflict should be resolved through peaceful negotiations. Iran is ready to play the role of mediator if necessary.”

The modern phase of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict broke out in 1988, when, as a response to the peaceful demand for self-determination of the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan in 1921, the Azerbaijani authorities carried out ethnic cleansing of Armenians – at first in the big cities of Azerbaijan, and then in Artsakh.

In September 1991 Artsakh declared independence, and, as a result, Azerbaijan exacerbated the violences and started large-scale military actions against Artsakh. After number of defeats on the frontlines, in May 1994 Azerbaijan was forced ask for a cease-fire from the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).

Currently, the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict are being conducted under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Russia, USA and France), based on the Madrid proposals, presented in November 2007.