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Akbar Novruz

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With each new appearance, interview, or public remark, Ambassador Mehdi Sobhani seems less like a diplomat representing Tehran and more like a mouthpiece for Yerevan. And Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia has more than proven this pattern.

His latest outburst, in which he claimed that the term “Western Azerbaijan” is unacceptable, crosses more than just diplomatic lines — it erases the historical trauma of an entire people. His repeated provocations suggest not only a deliberate disregard for facts but also a dangerous effort to distort the region’s history and current dynamics in favor of Armenia.

Expressions like "Western Azerbaijan" is significant and well-founded. This issue should not be evaluated solely based on Ambassador Sobhani's literacy.

We would like to clarify the issues related to the West Azerbaijan province and the Western Azerbaijan region.

The historical ancestral homelands of Azerbaijanis, from which they were forcibly deported to what is now modern-day Armenia, are referred to as Western Azerbaijan.

Since the establishment of Armenia, Azerbaijanis have inhabited Western Azerbaijan, which has been occupied by Armenians with the support of their allies. Armenians were relocated from different parts of the world to these areas, where they were granted “local status” or repatriate status. However, for Armenians worldwide, the territory of Armenia is not regarded as a homeland. The entities established in these regions under various circumstances are collectively referred to as the Republic of Armenia.

The first Armenians moved to Western Azerbaijan from the territory of Cilicia (modern-day Türkiye) to present-day Uchkilsa in 1441, following a decision made by the Karakoyunlu ruler Jahanshah. Prior to the establishment of the Afshar Empire, the lands of West Azerbaijan were primarily known as the Chukhursaad region and had their own administrative leaders. In 1747, Mirmehdi Khan founded the Iravan Khanate.

Over the past century, Azerbaijanis from Western Azerbaijan have been forced to migrate three times:

- 1905-1920s
- 1948-1953
- 1988-1992

As a result of these three forced migrations, the lands of Azerbaijanis were largely depopulated. Geographic names were altered to reflect Armenian identity, and acts of ethnic cleansing were carried out against Turks and Azerbaijanis. Azerbaijanis have not forgotten their history and ancestral lands, passing down this knowledge through generations. Many witnesses of the third wave of forced migration are still alive, and there is extensive material documenting this history.

It is important to highlight that during the March massacres of 1918, Armenians killed over ten thousand Azerbaijanis in Zangezur. Between 1918 and 1920, 565,000 of the 575,000 Azerbaijanis residing in present-day Armenia were either killed or expelled from their homeland. Z. Korkodyan discusses these events in his book, "The Population of Soviet Armenia 1831–1931."

These historical facts underscore the necessity of referring to the Turkish lands in modern-day Armenia as Western Azerbaijan. This designation is appropriate since the region lies west of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Additionally, the collective name for regions such as Zangezur, Basarkechar, Goycha, Amasya, and other Turkish settlements is Western Azerbaijan. Once the Azerbaijanis and Turks who were forcibly displaced from present-day Armenia return to their homeland, the use of this term may no longer be necessary.

The declaration of Western Azerbaijan aims to restore the violated and trampled rights of Azerbaijanis. This territory is where the Azerbaijanis expelled from present-day Armenia will once again reside.The bias displayed by those who attempt to differentiate this region from Western Azerbaijan—centered around the city of Urmia in Iran—and South Azerbaijan, while comparing it to "Western Armenia," is so pronounced that it cannot be overlooked.

Let’s be clear: Armenia has never been occupied by Azerbaijan. On the contrary, Armenia held 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory under brutal occupation for more than 30 years. The wars that followed — the First Garabagh War, the 44-day Patriotic War, and the 2023 one-day anti-terrorist measures— all took place within Azerbaijan’s own borders. This is the plain truth, acknowledged by international law and confirmed by global institutions. Yet Ambassador Sobhani continues to ignore it, turning his attention instead to fabricating concerns over Armenia’s so-called territorial integrity.

More egregiously, he has attempted to frame the peaceful return of Azerbaijanis to their ancestral lands — lands from which they were forcibly expelled — as somehow illegitimate. This is not diplomacy; it’s historical denialism.

Sobhani’s double standards were on full display last summer when he gave an interview to the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the U.S.-funded outlet — a curious platform choice, given his country’s vocal opposition to American influence. In that interview, he focused on “the rights of Armenian residents in Garabagh” while remaining entirely silent on the rights of the Azerbaijanis expelled from today’s Armenia.

Such selective morality is nothing new, but it is increasingly indefensible. It’s hard to believe that an Iranian ambassador can stand on Armenian soil and call for protecting the “rights” of people who voluntarily left Azerbaijan’s territory, while dismissing the rightful claims of those whose families were forcibly uprooted from what is now Armenia.

And the provocations haven’t stopped there. Sobhani recently made the outrageous claim that during the Iran-Israel confrontation, Israeli drones may have entered Iranian airspace via Azerbaijani territory. This accusation is as baseless as it is inflammatory — a fact that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry did not hesitate to make clear. In a firm statement, the ministry rightly labeled the ambassador’s remarks “provocative,” urging Tehran to take appropriate action against a diplomat who seems increasingly out of step with the official line of his own government.

Indeed, this episode comes at a particularly strange time. Only days ago, Azerbaijan welcomed the newly appointed Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou. President Ilham Aliyev emphasized Azerbaijan’s commitment to maintaining and reaffirming the deepening bilateral relations, citing recent positive conversations with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian. The mood was forward-looking, conciliatory, and constructive — all the more reason why Sobhani’s tone-deaf provocations are both puzzling and damaging.

The Azerbaijani MFA has rightly called him out. The ambassador’s interpretation of decisions adopted at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul — particularly those regarding the Western Azerbaijan Community — was not only incorrect, but openly misleading. OIC documents explicitly defend the right of return for Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia, and they condemn the systematic denial of their basic rights. Sobhani’s public remarks distort these texts beyond recognition.

In fact, the Iranian delegation at the OIC summit — led by their own Foreign Minister — voted in favor of the very resolutions that Sobhani now seeks to discredit. This contradiction raises a simple question: Is Mehdi Sobhani even representing Iran’s foreign policy, or has he assumed a role better suited for an Armenian government spokesman?

His consistent attempts to placate Yerevan with hollow rhetoric and historical revisionism damage not just Azerbaijan-Iran relations but also Iran’s credibility as a regional actor. And at a time when Tehran is seeking to rebuild trust, such behavior only undermines its goals.

Mehdi Sobhani reminds us of Vladimir Stupishin, the first Russian ambassador to Armenia. Both hold the title of ambassador, but their roles resemble those of propagandists more than diplomats. Neither Stupishin nor Subhani effectively conveys the strategic interests of the countries they represent. A common thread in their activities is a pronounced animosity toward Azerbaijan.

Diplomacy should be grounded in truth, mutual respect, and the pursuit of stability. Instead, Mehdi Sobhani continues to peddle falsehoods, create division, and prioritize provocation over progress. Thus, if Iran truly wants to open a new chapter with Azerbaijan, it must begin by rewriting the script that its ambassador in Yerevan insists on following...