Abbas Araghchi presents Iran's Karabakh settlement plan in Moscow

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented Tehran’s Nagorno-Karabakh settlement plan, based on a regional approach, to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Iranian Embassy in Moscow said.

"Today, he arrived in Moscow from Baku and is now discussing Iran’s plan for the resolution of the mentioned conflict. After consultations with Russian friends, he will travel to Yerevan and Ankara," the embassy said. "The feature of this plan is that it seeks to find a resolution for this conflict with assistance of regional countries, unlike the OSCE Minsk Group, which includes countries located far away from us, who cannot truly feel the pain of the people of our region."

Araghchi had told IRNA earlier on Thursday that Iran has proposed a peace plan based on humanitarian principles and taking into consideration the demands of both parties of the clash.

Araghchi said Iran plans to put an end to the dispute through regional cooperation, which is a tough task. He went on to say that Iran has proposed that key countries of the region, like Russia, should play a role in solving the crisis.

Iran's Regional Initiative includes ceasefire, discontinuation of attacks on residential areas and civilians, as well as return of the displaced to their homes, Araghchi said.

Some interference is taking place on the part of some countries that have no intention of peace in the region, he said, adding that Iran feels the regional responsibility and is going to help the crisis to come to an end.

The most important feature of Iran's peace plan is realism; it stresses principles such as halting occupation, respecting territorial integrity of regional countries, immutability of borders, respecting human rights and minorities, and avoiding attacks on civilians, he said.

He first made a trip to Baku, and after talks with Russian officials in Moscow, he will visit Yerevan and Ankara.

The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 05:00 (Msk). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. To date, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts, including the cities of Jabrayil and Fizuli, the city of Zangilan and part of Zangilan district, part of the Gubaldi region, the city of Gubadli, the city of Hadrut and a number of villages in the Khojavend region, the villages of Sugovushan and Talish in the Terter region, as well as the strategically important Murovdag mountain were liberated.