Baku, June 28, 2025 – The Europe Today: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan has issued a firm statement rejecting recent remarks made by Mehdi Sobhani, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia, concerning the Western Azerbaijan Community.
Aykhan Hajizada, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, stated on Friday that the Iranian ambassador’s interpretation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) decisions adopted in Istanbul is both manipulative and misleading, causing “surprise and indignation” in Baku.
“We categorically reject the claims by Mehdi Sobhani regarding the Western Azerbaijan Community,” Hajizada said. “His interpretation distorts the clear intent of the OIC resolutions, which are aimed at restoring justice and protecting the human rights of Azerbaijanis who were systematically expelled from the territory of present-day Armenia through violence, intimidation, and gross violations.”
The Foreign Ministry urged Ambassador Sobhani to familiarize himself with the actual content of the OIC documents, particularly the resolution titled “The Right of Return of the Azerbaijanis Forcefully and Systemically Expelled from the Territory of the Present-Day Armenia.”
“These resolutions are based on undeniable historical facts and principles of international law, and they do not constitute territorial claims, as wrongly asserted by Armenia and echoed by the Iranian ambassador,” Hajizada added.
He emphasized that the resolutions in question explicitly call for the restoration of fundamental rights of displaced Azerbaijanis and condemn Armenia’s continued denial of those rights.
Hajizada also pointed out the inconsistency in the Iranian diplomat’s statements, noting that the official position of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as expressed by its Foreign Minister during the OIC meeting in Istanbul, was in full support of the adopted resolutions, alongside representatives from 57 member states.
“The ambassador’s unfounded and provocative rhetoric appears to serve Armenia’s narrative and is damaging to Iran-Azerbaijan relations,” Hajizada warned. “Championing Armenia’s distortions with such fervor — to be more Catholic than the Pope — brings no honor.”
The statement underscores Azerbaijan’s continued efforts to secure international recognition of the rights of the Western Azerbaijan Community and its firm stance against what it sees as revisionist and politically motivated narratives.
