Iran's FM Araghchi tells ECO meeting Iran was victim of US and Israeli aggression

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who is in New York to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly, took part on Friday in the 27th informal meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), chaired by Pakistan. In his address, he thanked Pakistan and the ECO Secretariat and stressed the importance of strengthening regional cooperation among member states.

Araghchi said the meeting was being held at a time of growing uncertainty and fragmentation, and he accused unnamed parties of violating international law and international humanitarian law by waging what he called illegal and unwarranted wars and acts of aggression. He stated that despite Iran's commitment to diplomacy and negotiations, the country fell victim to what he described as unlawful and unjustified terrorist aggressions by the United States and the Zionist Regime on 13 June 2025 and 28 February 2026. According to his remarks, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, along with a number of senior military commanders and more than 4,000 Iranian civilians, were killed, and 168 schoolchildren died at a primary school in Minab City. He also said numerous infrastructure facilities, including hospitals, civil airports and historical monuments, were targeted. Araghchi added that, with the resistance of Iran's armed forces and people and broad support from the international community, particularly the ECO region, none of the aggressors' objectives were achieved.

The Iranian foreign minister said Iran remains committed to strengthening regional cooperation and solidarity, and argued that ECO can play a more active role in promoting peace, stability, connectivity and sustainable development among its members. He noted that several ministerial meetings that had been suspended for years, including on trade, interior and environment, had been convened, with others planned. He cited the adoption of a five-year roadmap for mining cooperation, a ten-year strategy for sustainable and resilient transport in the ECO region, and the start of a process to amend the ECOTA Agreement as examples of collective progress. He said the ECO Vision for the coming decade is being finalized to ensure its feasibility, measurability and effective implementation, and expressed hope it would be approved at the 18th summit in Tehran.

Araghchi also pointed to progress in transport infrastructure and regional connectivity, saying the expansion of ECO corridors and their growing links with major cargo and logistics hubs, including those connected to China, are strengthening the region's role in international trade and transit networks. He said regional tourism has continued to expand and intra-regional trade has maintained positive growth, adding that energy, human resources, agriculture and industries, and the environment remain crucial priorities. He credited member states and the Secretariat, headed by Ambassador Majeed Khan, for ECO's momentum.

He said Iran is preparing to host the 18th ECO Summit in Tehran on 3 and 4 December 2026, describing the event as highly significant for the region and beyond, and said the contributions of ECO leaders would send a message to their peoples and the international community. In closing, he called for peace, security and prosperity worldwide and an end to unilateral coercive measures and aggressions, which he described as root causes of instability and insecurity. The report by Mehr News carried the full text of his remarks.