Iran calls Armenia, Azerbaijan to reach ceasefire

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach an immediate cease-fire and opt for negotiations for settling disputes.

It comes as Armenia and Azerbaijani forces kept fighting over the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh after hostilities broke out the day before, with both sides blaming each other for resuming the deadly attacks that reportedly also wounded scores of people.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed that Armenian forces started shelling the town of Tartar on Monday morning, while Armenian officials said the fighting continued throughout the night and Baku resumed “offensive actions" in the morning.

"We believe that prompt ceasefire, giving up hostilities and starting mutual talks is the only definitive solution to this issue", Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told journalists at a news briefing in Tehran.

Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry told the Interfax news agency Monday that over 550 Armenian troops have been killed, a claim that Armenian officials denied.

According to Nagorno-Karabakh officials, 31 servicemen have been killed so far.

Armenia's Defence Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said Monday over 200 people have been wounded.

The heavy fighting broke out on Sunday morning in the region that lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994 at the end of a separatist war.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the fighting, the heaviest since clashes in July killed 16 people from both sides.

Mostly mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh — a region around 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 square miles) or about the size of the US state of Delaware — lies 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Armenian border.

Local soldiers backed by Armenia also occupy some Azerbaijani territory outside the region.