Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh siad that Baku is interested in developing �good-neighborly relations� with Tehran and regards the continuation of talks with the Islamic Republic as important.

The Azerbaijani side positively assesses these negotiations and believes it is important to continue consultations, the Baku-based Trend news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

�Azerbaijan has always been interested in developing good-neighborly relations with all neighboring countries, including Iran. Mutual respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the countries is an invariable priority of Azerbaijan�s foreign policy,� the spokesperson added.

Iran�s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov held their phone talks on April 7-8, discussing in detail the latest developments regarding relations between the two countries as well as some regional issues.

Amirabdollahian referred to �the Zionist regime�s plots� against integrity, security, stability and development of the regional countries, stressing that enemies are the only parties to benefit from disputes among regional nations.

Azerbaijan�s relations with Iran were strained in January following an attack on the Eurasian country�s embassy in Tehran.

Azerbaijan closed its diplomatic mission following the incident and evacuated staff over what it called a �terrorist act,� with President Ilham Aliyev blaming it on the �Iranian establishment.�

By Iran Front Page