a Iran embassy condemns attacks on civilians in Karabakh war

Iran’s embassy in Baku has strongly condemned recent attacks on civilians and nonmilitary targets during the ongoing clashes between the Republic of Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia, urging both sites to respect the law of war and protect civilian lives.

Iran’s embassy made the remarks in an official statement on Sunday after Azerbaijan announced the same day that Armenian forces had fired rockets at its second city of Ganja, killing one civilian and wounding four.

According to Azerbaijan’s presidential aide, Hikmet Hajiyev, there were also civilian casualties in another Azeri region, Beylagan, which borders Nagorno-Karabakh.

The office of Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general says a total of 19 civilians were killed on October 3 and 63 others were injured while 44 nonmilitary sites and 181 houses were destroyed as a result of attacks by Armenian forces.

Armenia, on the other side, says Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city Stepanakert, which has been under artillery fire since Friday, was hit again on Sunday and AFP journalists said there were regular explosions and clouds of black smoke rising in parts of the city.

Reflecting on the aforesaid developments, the Iranian embassy urged both warring parties to respect human rights as well as the international humanitarian law.

Reminding Baku and Yerevan of the international regulations governing armed conflicts, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians during such conflicts, the Iranian embassy condemned any form of violation of the rights of innocent people and killing them as well as destruction of nonmilitary sites, buildings and installations while condoling with the families who have lost their loved ones in the ongoing conflict.

Intense fighting rages on between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Karabakh region, with Baku claiming to have captured a string of villages in heavy clashes over the mountain enclave.

As fierce clashes between the two South Caucasus neighbors entered the eighth day on Sunday, local sources reported new strikes followed by several explosions in Khankendi, the main city of the breakaway region of Karabakh.

Azerbaijani authorities said they took “retaliatory measures” after rocket fire by Armenia-backed troops from the city which Armenians call Stepanakert.

During a telephone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to show restraint and reject any foreign interference over the Karabakh dispute.

Rouhani voiced concern about the ongoing fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory and underlined the need for regional peace, stability and security.

“Our region cannot endure further instability and a new war,” he said.

Speaking at a regular press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei said Iran, Turkey and Russia can help solve the Azerbaijan-Armenia territorial conflict, which has erupted into the worst spate of fighting between the two sides in years.

“We still believe that the conflict between the two neighboring countries of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Armenia Republic has a peaceful solution and Iran, Turkey and Russia can help those two neighbors patch up their differences peacefully in line with the United Nations’ resolutions,” Rabiei said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday offered to host talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Lavrov held separate telephone conversations with his Azeri and Armenian counterparts, reaffirming Moscow’s readiness to organize necessary contacts, including by hosting a next meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia.