By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

The latest round of armed confrontation between the Caucasus republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the disputed Karabakh region is neither accidental nor was it planned by either of the two antagonists.
The timing of this bloody flare up, which is unfortunately in its fourth day and has seen use of heavy armaments, indicates the ulterior motives of outside parties to deflect attention from their devilish designs elsewhere in the region.
With the Muslim Ummah in a state of anger at the sellout of Islam’s first qibla (focal point of prayer) Bayt al-Moqaddas to the Zionist usurpers of Palestine by traitorous clannish rulers of the UAE and Bahrain in the Persian Gulf south of the Iranian marine borders, it seems Israel and its godfather the US, have decided to fan the flames of an ethnic-religious war near the northwestern borders of Iran.
The Islamic Republic, as part of its principled policy of peace and stability in the region, has called on both Baku and Yerevan to cease hostilities and sit at the table for talks to resolve their dispute, which is definitely not a Christian-Muslim conflict as the Zionist-controlled western media is trying to depict.
At the same time, the Karabakh crisis is not the result of any age-old enmity between the Azeris and the Armenians, as mischievous elements are attempting to portray in pursuit of their own divisive goals to keep the region in turmoil.
Tehran believes that a lasting solution is possible if saner minds prevail in Baku and Yerevan to work out a peaceful settlement to a crisis which is mostly the result of misunderstandings dating to the Soviet occupation of the Caucasus when arbitrary borders were drawn between the republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
This warrants the two sides to listen to the voices of reason from their mutual friends, rather than allow emotions to be swayed by those posing to be supporters of either side, or willing to supply lethal weapons.
The Caucasus region doesn’t need the flow of armaments to disturb the peace of the local people who for centuries had coexisted as neighbours, mostly under the various Persian empires, before the Czarist encroachment in the region led to the war of 1813 between the Romanovs and the Qajars and the subsequent imposition of the scandalous Treaty of Golestan (through British deceit) to detach Armenia and the northern parts of Azerbaijan from Iran.
Karabakh, which is actually a corruption of the Azeri-Persian term "Qara-Bagh” or Big Garden to signify the lush green region with its congenial climate, has the potential to serve as a bridge to peace and prosperity, if its rich natural resources are used by the local people in an atmosphere of understanding.
It is time the two sides realized that Israel which has infiltrated the region is the enemy number one of both the Azeri and the Armenian people, and so is the US, which fans the flames of sedition wherever it sets foot.
The Islamic Republic of Iran which had previously played the role of peacemaker between the Republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia is again willing to help the two sides negotiate with each other for finding a permanent solution to their senseless hostilities.
Therefore, instead of going at each other’s throats, Baku and Yerevan should plan for peace. Tehran is ready to play the role of an honest negotiator, to end their differences over the disputed enclave.