Iranian MP: Iran should have supported Armenia in recent war with Azerbaijan

As many Iranians continue to criticize Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for remarks on December 10 interpreted as an irredentist provocation, a member of Iran’s parliament has said Tehran should have supported Armenia against Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Mahmoud Ahmadi-Bighash, who is a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy commission, during the Sunday session of the legislature said that “Iran should have set aside niceties” and helped Armenia to “preserve the balance of power” in the region.

Iran remained neutral in the renewed military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan that broke out in September. Turkey assisted its ally against Armenia, whose military forces were defeated and relinquished territories taken from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s.