Iran against changing internationally-recognized borders - senior MP

An Iranian senior lawmaker has said that Tehran is against changing the internationally-recognized borders of neighbouring countries.

"The two countries of Iran and Armenia enjoy high capacities and potentials to strengthen their bilateral relations," Ebrahim Azizi, the Vice Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission made the remarks at a meeting with the chairman of the Iran-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Gevorg Papoyan in Tehran late on October 10, according to the Mehr news agency.

High-profile discussions between the two parliaments could pave suitable ways for taking advantage of these capacities, Azizi added.

The Iranian lawmaker pointed to the significance of the issue of the Caucasus and the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the Islamic Republic of Iran and added that military conflict in this region is the major concern of Iranian officials.

Iran invites the two conflicting parties to practice self-restraint, so that resorting to coercion and force is not the possible tool to iron out the differences, rather, negotiations are a fundamental need to restore peace and security in this region, he said.

Emphasizing that regional problems must be solved by the countries of the region themselves, Azizi said that extra-regional countries should not be allowed to enter the region under the pretext of solving problem.

For his turn, Papoyan said that Armenia considers Iran as a very powerful and important country in the region and extra-regional countries cannot tarnish the amicable and longstanding ties between the two countries.

Papoyan also thanked the Iranian authorities for their explicit position supporting the territorial integrity of Armenia.