In remarks at a press conference on Tuesday, Ali Rabiee said Iran welcomes a lasting ceasefire between the warring sides.

“As we have announced time and again, we welcome any initiative that can stop the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia and establish a ceasefire and prevent the killing of people,” he noted.

“I deem it necessary to express the Iranian government’s concern and regret over the killing of civilians and I stress the need to avoid a repeat of such incidents at a time when the region and the peoples of the regional countries need peace and tranquility more than ever,” said Rabiee.

“Fortunately, in light of diplomatic engagements, the two warring countries agreed on a humanitarian ceasefire. Of course, we also witnessed the harrowing violation of the truce whereby a number of people were killed,” he added.

He also expressed concern over the escalation of conflict in the Azeri city of Ganja.

The spokesman recalled consultations between Iranian officials and senior authorities of other regional countries to help settle the crisis, according to the government’s official website.

“From the outset of the fighting and during the course of the Iranian president and foreign minister’s talks with their counterparts, we have expressed our viewpoints and made our efforts. We have held talks with the officials of other countries in the region,” he said.

“We have announced the official position of our authorities and we have announced our readiness for mediation. We are pressing ahead with our attempts. Based on the plans envisaged, we are moving forward with our negotiations with the warring sides,” Rabiee added.

“God willing, Iran’s humanitarian efforts will bear fruit. We are among the few players in the region that have a good relationship with all those involved in the crisis, including the warring sides or key regional countries. We have good bilateral ties with these countries as well.

“We will try our utmost to help bring a ceasefire to the Nagorno-Karabakh region and urge the warring sides to seriously respect international law and territorial integrity in all negotiations. We hope they will avoid any move that would destabilize the ceasefire and the first steps toward diplomacy and the truce,” the spokesman concluded.

In a statement released on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh called on Baku and Yerevan to honor the truce and avoid attacking civilians.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran deplores the violation of a ceasefire announced amid the recent clashes between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, calls on the two parties to exercise more self-restraint, condemns the missile attacks on the vital infrastructures, the residential areas of cities, and the killing of civilians, and expresses sympathy with the bereaved families,” he said.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran once again calls on the two sides to remain committed to the ceasefire and resume their talks within the framework of the international law, respect for the territorial integrity of each other, and evacuation of the occupied cities,” Khatibzadeh added.

The spokesman expressed Iran’s readiness to help facilitate the negotiations for achieving permanent and sustainable peace and solution in the region.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have accused each other of violating the terms of the ceasefire in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region brokered by Russia last week.

While the ceasefire was supposed to halt fighting to allow ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azeri forces to swap prisoners and war dead, both sides accused each other of breaking the truce within minutes after it took effect on Saturday.