News / Politics

Tehran rejects media allegations of arms transfer to Armenia via Iran

Tuesday, 29 September 2020 11:00 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 29 September 2020 12:09 PM ]

An image grab taken from a video made available on the official web site of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on September 28, 2020 allegedly shows Azeri troops conducting a combat operation during clashes with Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh. (Via AFP)

Iran has dismissed as lies reports by some media outlets about the transfer of weapons and military equipment to Armenia through the territory of the Islamic Republic.

“The movement of trucks and the transit of conventional civilian goods between the Islamic Republic of Iran and neighboring countries have been ongoing as usual,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

However, he added, “in addition to closely monitoring and controlling the movements and transit of goods to other countries, Iran does not allow the use of its soil for the transfer of weapons and ammunition.”

The remarks came after certain media reports alleged that Russia had sent three of its MiG-29 fighters to Armenia using Iranian airspace.

Heavy clashes erupted on Sunday between Azerbaijani and Armenian military forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Scores have been killed and hundreds wounded in the worst spate of fighting between the two former Soviet republics since the 1990s.

Both sides blame each other for initiating the fighting in the Caucasus Mountains.

For years, the two neighbors have been locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s breakaway, mainly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Though a ceasefire was agreed in 1994, Baku and Yerevan continue to accuse each other of shooting attacks around the enclave.

On Monday, Khatibzadeh said the region cannot take any more of the type of the conflict that has perilously flared up between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Iran FM calls for immediate cessation of hostilities, Yerevan-Baku dialogue

Tensions have flared in the South Caucasus since early Sunday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also held separate phone calls with his Azeri and Armenian counterparts calling for an immediate end to hostilities and start of negotiations within the framework of international law.

He also expressed in a Twitter post Tehran’s readiness to "provide good offices to enable talks" between Baku and Yerevan.

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