“All of the parties involved and all international observers must know that the demand and resolve of people of the region is that Iran should take part in the Karabakh ceasefire and reconstruction committee and be effectively present in monitoring as well as security and economic cooperation in the new corridors,” Rezaei said at a Monday conference in Qom, referring to the corridors created as part of a ceasefire agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, signed in November.
He said Iran’s involvement in the ceasefire committee would benefit the entire region.
“Our absence from the Karabakh ceasefire committee is not glorious, and such an absence is no step in favor of peace and long-term interests of regional countries,” he added.
Highlighting Iran’s unwavering support for Karabakh since the outbreak of the “unfair war” in that region, Rezaei said Iran has never backed the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh.
Statistics show that Iran has spent at least $43 million on the Karabakh refugees to contribute to regional peace and provide comfort for the people displaced along the common border, as it is associated with the security of Iran, he said.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan Republic, but was fully controlled by Armenians after a bloody war in the 1990s that saw them seize regions belonging to Azerbaijan.
After 44 days of fighting that began in late September 2020 and left more than 5,600 people dead on both sides, the Azerbaijani army pushed deep into Karabakh and reclaimed significant territory.