Iran to support Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Iran has always supported, supports today and will continue to support Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Iranian Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs, Seyyed Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajeddini, declared today in Tehran, Trend reports.

Mir-Tajeddini stressed that the Caucasus region and Azerbaijan in particular is very important both for Iran and the whole world. According to him, the region enjoys an important geopolitical position, is rich in energy resources and possesses access to the sea.

Referring to Iranian-Azerbaijani relations, the vice-president said that Iran has such religious similarities with no other Muslim country, as 95 percent of Azerbaijan's population are Muslims, most of them Shiites. He said that Iran is well aware of the significance attached to religion in Azerbaijan, but at the same time called on its leaders to exercise even greater care and attention to this area.

Mir-Tajeddini called energy, cargo transportation, the food industry and new technology important areas for cooperation between the two countries. Joint efforts against terrorism and drug trafficking and protecting the environment are also of vital importance. The vice-president noted there are also a number of problems in relations between the two neighbouring countries, including determining the status of the Caspian Sea, some issues in energy policy and military agreements signed by the two countries.

Mir-Tajeddini places importance on the further integration of Muslim countries by lifting the visa regime between them. Iran has already abolished its visa regime with Azerbaijan, which is the first such step in bilateral relations, he said.