TEHRAN — Presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi has dismissed as “baseless” the rumors that Iran is dispatching aid to Armenia amid its ongoing clashes with neighboring Azerbaijan.

“The Republic of Azerbaijan has an important and special place in Iran’s foreign policy,” Vaezi said in a phone call with Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev.

“We have always used every opportunity to strengthen and develop our relations with this country,” he said, according to Mehr.

Vaezi voiced concern over the Azerbaijan-Armenia clashes, saying Iran is monitoring the developments closely.

“We are ready to help in resolving the dispute between the two countries through dialogue and negotiation within the framework of law and regulations of international law,” he stated.

Violence broke out on the front line between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the volatile Nagorno-Karabakh region on Sunday. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but controlled by Armenian forces.

Araz News, website of the Azerbaijan National Resistance Organization (ANRO), an exiled separatist group of Iranian Azeri, on Monday published videos and photos of trucks allegedly carrying arms and equipment to Armenia.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh rebuffed the allegations, saying the transit of conventional non-military items through Iran to neighboring countries has always been underway.

“The mentioned trucks are crossing Iran simply within the same framework,” Khatibzadeh said on Tuesday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran carefully monitors and controls the trend of transportation and transit of commodities to other countries [via its soil] and does not allow our country’s soil to be used for the transfer of arms and ammunition whatsoever.”

In this regard, Vaezi also strongly rejected the rumors, saying they are completely baseless and are aimed at disrupting the good relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.

He said the good, strategic and comprehensive relations between Tehran and Baku will not be affected by such rumors.

Shahin Mustafayev, for his part, referred to Iran a good neighbor, saying, “We should not allow these good relations to be damaged by the efforts of the opposition.”

Referring to the commonalities between Iran and Azerbaijan, he said the top officials of the two countries have made great efforts to develop and deepen the Tehran-Baku relations, and today these relations are at a very good level.

Iran’s Ambassador to Baku also reacted to the Araz News report, saying it was part of third-party efforts to harm the friendly, brotherly relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.

Abbas Mousavi highlighted Iran’s strong position in support of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, and stressed the need for Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve their disputes peacefully.

MH/PA