TEHRAN (Combined Sources)–Iran’s parliament will support joint investment projects with the Republic of Azerbaijan, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Monday in talks with visiting Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
There is great potential for investment in oil, gas, energy, and industrial projects, Larijani told him.
The Majlis has been a proponent of strong ties with Azerbaijan and it will support any legislation to facilitate joint investment, the speaker added.
During his meeting with Mammadyarov, Larijani called for further talks between Iran and Azerbaijan in “light of incidents in the highly sensitive Caucasus region.” He was referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The deployment of foreign forces in the already volatile South Caucasus will exacerbate existing problems in the region, Larijani said, adding it would make the fragile situation there more complicated.
“It is essential that the regional nations cooperate to help resolve problems facing the region,” he suggested.
“Deployment of foreign troops in the region only makes the issue more complicated which is not favorable to any regional country,” Larijani said, in reference to the possible deployment of international peacekeepers to the region following an agreement by Armenia and Azerbaijan over a framework peace accord.
Larijani underscored the importance of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh through negotiations. “Foreign powers do not wish for this issue to be resolved swiftly,” he said. Mammadyarov, for his part, said that the Republic of Azerbaijan is willing to resolve conflict through talks.
He said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to its ties with Tehran, adding that “parliamentary cooperation is highly important in expanding ties between the two neighbors.”
