30 September 2020•Update: 03 October 2020
ANKARA
Iranian authorities on Wednesday arrested at least 11 pro-Azerbaijan protesters, according to the Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency.
It said police forces used tear gas to disperse activists who gathered at a park in Ardabil city in solidarity with Azerbaijan in the wake of Armenian attacks.
The police arrested at least 11 activists and wounded three others, it added.
A large number of Azerbaijanis, who constitute a large proportion of the population of the cities of Ardabil, Tabriz and Urmia expressed their support for Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan declared a partial military mobilization Monday.
Since Armenia’s attacks Sunday, tensions have continued to escalate, with Turkey firmly standing with Azerbaijan.
Relations between the two former Soviet nations have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied the Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh region, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as many international organizations demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.
The OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by France, Russia and the US -- was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail.
*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara
