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Akbar Novruz

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has strongly rejected the recent claims made by Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani, regarding the final communiqué of the 17th Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Summit held in Khankendi, Azernews reports.

Aykhan Hajizadeh, head of the MFA's Press Service Department, called the ambassador’s remarks "unacceptable" and “political manipulation and hypocrisy.”

“We would like to bring to the attention of the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran that the Khankendi Communiqué, which reflects the results of the Summit, was prepared in advance with the OIC member states, in accordance with the experience of previous Summits, in the format of a summary of the summit chairman without the need for coordination with the member states, and was published on the organization’s official website,” Hajizadeh stated.

Refuting the ambassador's assertion that Iran had objections to the communiqué, Hajizadeh clarified:

“In this case, the claims of the Iranian Ambassador about the alleged adoption of the Khankendi Communiqué and the Iranian side's reservations to it do not reflect the real situation. In diplomatic practice, reservations can only be made in relation to decisions taken as a result of negotiations.”

He emphasised that all ECO members, including Iran, are also members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and had previously agreed to support Azerbaijani rights, particularly regarding the return of Azerbaijanis forcibly displaced from the territories of present-day Armenia.

“The truth is that all members of the OIC, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, are also members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and all of these states, including Iran, were included in the resolution ‘The Right of Return of Azerbaijanis Forced and Systematically Displaced from the Territories of Present-Day Armenia’ adopted as a result of negotiations at the conclusion of the 51st session of the OIC Council of Ministers held in Istanbul on June 21–22,” he said.

Hajizadeh further noted that the Khankendi Communiqué only referenced this existing OIC Declaration, and criticised Ambassador Sobhani’s remarks to Armenia’s Armenpress agency as lacking any diplomatic basis.

“In this regard, the views expressed by the Iranian ambassador in an interview with the Armenian Armenpress agency are nothing more than political manipulation and hypocrisy,” he concluded.