GENEVA: Azerbaijan said Wednesday it was prepared to allow the Red Cross to bring humanitarian aid into the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh on a “regular basis,” accusing Armenian separatists of blocking access.
Tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh have flared in recent months, as Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of obstructing traffic on the Lachin corridor — the sole road linking Armenia to the Armenian-populated breakaway region.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stressed his government’s “commitment and our readiness to provide access.”
Speaking to reporters with the United Nations correspondent’s association in Geneva, he said he had met with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Swiss city and had “reconfirmed our commitment to cooperation.”
“ICRC is ready. The government of Azerbaijan is ready” for aid to be brought in, he said.
“It can be conducted on a regular basis,” he said, adding that “the only missing point at the moment... is still the blocking (by) the local Armenians.”
His comments came after Russian humanitarian aid arrived Tuesday in Nagorno-Karabakh via territory controlled by Azerbaijan, according to separatist authorities in the Armenian-populated area.
The Lachin corridor is policed by Russian peacekeepers as part of a cease-fire agreement Moscow brokered between the ex-Soviet Caucasus nations in 2020.
Baku has rejected Armenia’s claim, saying Nagorno-Karabakh could receive supplies via Azerbaijani-controlled territory.
On September 1, Azerbaijan agreed to simultaneously reopen, for humanitarian supplies, both the Lachin corridor and the Aghdam road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with the rest of Azerbaijan.
Bayramov said Wednesday that the “ICRC is ready to organize everything,” adding the organization had two convoys ready to go “in a matter of hours.”
He said the convoys could move “in parallel” using the Aghdam and Lachin routes simultaneously.
“We are ready at any scale, ... (within) respect to norms and procedures of Azerbaijani legislation,” he said.
An ICRC spokeswoman confirmed to AFP Wednesday that the organization “stands ready to deliver large shipments of desperately needed humanitarian assistance by any route possible.”
“We are extremely concerned for the tens of thousands of people who urgently need food, medicine and other essential items,” she said.
“We hope a humanitarian consensus is reached very soon so that our work can resume and we can get aid to those who need it.”
Azerbaijan ready to allow ‘regular’ aid access to Nagorno-Karabakh
https://arab.news/gsx27
Azerbaijan ready to allow ‘regular’ aid access to Nagorno-Karabakh
- Tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh have flared in recent months
- Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stressed his government’s “commitment and our readiness to provide access”
Rescuers search for missing sailors after US sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka
- US submarine attack stretched battlefield beyond Middle East, furthest point since war began
- At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, while about 60 remain unaccounted for
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan rescuers continued searching for dozens of missing sailors after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, as a second Iranian vessel sailed close to the island nation’s territorial waters on Thursday.
The Sri Lankan Navy has recovered at least 87 bodies and rescued 32 people after responding to a distress call on Wednesday morning from an Iranian frigate, the IRIS Dena, which was sunk by a torpedo fired by a US submarine.
A second Iranian vessel — reportedly carrying about 100 people onboard — was heading towards Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Thursday, said Nalinda Jayatissa, media minister and Cabinet spokesperson.
“The government is taking necessary interventions to ensure the safety of those on board,” he told parliament.
“Sri Lanka is committed to international peace, particularly peace in the Indian Ocean. We are acting according to international law and on humanitarian grounds to safeguard regional stability.”
IRIS Dena, an Iranian vessel with a crew of about 180, was sailing in international waters as it returned from the International Fleet Review 2026, a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal, when it was torpedoed.
The strike was the first use by the US of a torpedo against an enemy ship in combat since the Second World War. Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, confirmed the sinking of the Iranian warship by an American submarine in the Indian Ocean, describing it as a “quiet death.”
The sinking of IRIS Dena came as the US and Israel continued to launch air strikes on Iran after killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian officials on Saturday, as Tehran responded with counterstrikes against US bases in the Gulf region.
The attack off Sri Lanka’s coast, thousands of kilometers away from Tehran, has stretched the battlefield beyond the Middle East, its furthest point since the war began. At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk since last weekend, according to US Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the US military’s Central Command.
Authorities at the National Hospital in Galle told Arab News that the rescued Iranian sailors were “out of danger.” One of those rescued remained in the intensive care unit, while most of them were treated for fractures and chest pain.
“They were sleeping at the time of the blast,” said a source at the hospital, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
“There is a language barrier. We find it difficult to communicate with the patients properly and have sought assistance from the Iranian Embassy in Colombo.”
Iran has requested the repatriation of the deceased Iranian sailors, according to Deputy Health Minister Hansaka Wijemuni, who said that authorities are now making preparations to do so.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that IRIS Dena was struck in international waters without warning.
“The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores,” he wrote on X.
“Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set.”
