Iran always supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and is interested in the soonest peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Major General Mohammad Bagheri told reporters in Baku on Jan. 17.

Axar.az reports that Bagheri added that Iran also wants the occupied territories to be returned to Azerbaijan and the problem of refugees and internally displaced people to be solved.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.