The allegations made by Mehdi Sobhani, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia, regarding the outcome document of the 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), held in the city of Khankendi, is unacceptable.

Axar.az reports that the head of the Press Service Department of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, Aykhan Hajizada, made this statement in response to the allegations made by Ambassador of Iran to Armenia on the outcome document of the ECO Summit in Khankendi.

We would like to bring to the attention of the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran that as agreed in advance with the ECO member states in line with the practices of previous summits, the Khankendi Communiqué, which reflects the outcomes of the Summit, was prepared in the format of a Chairman’s Summary, without the need to separate approval from the member states, and was published on the official website of the Organization.

In this context, the Iranian Ambassador’s allegations about the adoption of the Khankendi Communiqué and that Iran placed reservations on it do not reflect the actual situation. In diplomatic practice, reservations can only be made in relation to decisions adopted as a result of negotiations.

The reality is that all the member countries of ECO, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, are also members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and all these states, including Iran, have supported the right of return of Western Azerbaijan Community to their homeland with dignity and condemned Armenia's denial of the rights of this Community, as reflected in the resolution on the “right of return of Azerbaijanis forcibly and systematically displaced from present-day territories of Armenia,” and the final political document of the session — the Istanbul Declaration - adopted as a result of negotiations at the 51st session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in Istanbul on 21–22 June.

The Khankendi Communiqué refers specifically to this Declaration, which was adopted by consensus within the ECO.

Therefore, the remarks made by the Iranian Ambassador in his interview with Armenia’s Armenpress are nothing more than political manipulation and hypocrisy.