As tensions between Caucasian states Azerbaijan and Armenia have been running high with dozens of soldiers from both sides killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Iran called on its northern neighbors to show restraint and immediately halt the bloody clashes. Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, said on Saturday the military clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia cause “serious concern” for Iran, Tasnim News Agency reported. “While the region is witnessing devastating activities by extremist groups and is in need of calm and stability, the worrying reports of escalated clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region have deeply concerned the Islamic Republic,” he said. Ansari asked Baku and Yerevan to put an immediate end to the fighting and do their utmost to settle the disputes in a peaceful manner. At least 30 soldiers have been killed in the fighting that began on Friday. Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenians since a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended in 1994. Years of negotiations have brought little progress in resolving the dispute.
