TEHRAN — Iran does not approve of the concepts and language used against Armenia in the “Istanbul Declaration” adopted during the recent session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers. The use of such language—implying, for example, territorial changes – is completely inappropriate.
This was stated by the spokesperson of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baghaei, commenting on the formulations directed against Armenia in the OIC’s ministerial declaration.
He emphasized that while OIC member states may raise various issues in collective documents, those points do not necessarily reflect the position of every member state.
“We have consistently advocated for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Peace and security in the South Caucasus are important to us, and we maintain good relations with both countries. At the same time, we do not support the concepts and language used in that particular section (editor’s note: referring to the phrase ‘Western Azerbaijan community’), and believe that using such terms, which may imply intentions of territorial revision, is entirely inappropriate,” Baghaei said.
It should be noted that a few days earlier, Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani, also addressed this issue in response to a relevant query by Armenpress. He stated that Tehran categorically rejects any territorial claims that would violate Armenia’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty. He emphasized that the use of fabricated and false expressions contradicts the agenda of peaceful coexistence in the region, the logic of good neighborly relations, and respect for the territorial integrity of other countries, and should be avoided.
On June 23, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement expressing disappointment over the inclusion of fabricated language in the OIC document.
