"The Security Council welcomes the signing in Moscow on 23 December 1996 by the President of Tajikistan and the leader of the United Tajik Opposition of the Agreement (S/1996/1070, annex I), including the Protocol on the Commission on National Reconciliation (S/1996/1070, annex II), and notes the progress made in the inter-Tajik talks in Tehran, in particular the signing of the Protocol on Refugees (S/1997/56, annex III). It believes that these agreements, provided they are carried out as written, represent a qualitative change for the better and give a new impetus to efforts aimed at achieving national reconciliation. The Council urges the parties to honour and implement consistently and in good faith the agreements already reached, in particular in the course of negotiating future agreements. It also urges them to make further substantive progress at the next rounds of the inter-Tajik talks.