Iran Urges Stronger ECO Integration to Face Regional Challenges – Politics news

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Friday delivered an online speech to the 29th meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Council of Ministers.

Chaired by Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Yermek Kosherbayev, the meeting focused on ECO’s achievements during 2025, while also guiding the organization’s future endeavors under the new vision “Strategic Objectives of Economic Cooperation – 2035.”

The online meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers was attended by foreign ministers and deputy foreign ministers from the member states. ECO specialized agencies and subsidiary bodies, as well as ECO observers and partner international organizations, including the Turkish Cypriot State, Organization of Turkic States, and CICA also took part in the event.

What follows is the full text of the Iranian foreign minister’s statement:

Distinguished Chairman, Minister Yermek Kosherbayev

Let me begin with congratulating you on your chairmanship of this important ECO Council of Ministers meeting. I extend my greetings to all fellow ministers and officials present in the meeting.

Unfortunately, all attempts, including mine, to maintain the in-person format of this meeting failed and Council has to meet virtually today. As the Chairman of 28th ECO Council of Ministers meeting in Mashhad, I hope our 29th meeting today, despite its online format; can sustain the outstanding role of the ECO Council of Ministers.

The gap since we met in Mashhad in early December 2024 till 30th COM meeting in 2026 is the longest interval ever between our gatherings, as our annual meeting in New York was also canceled this last fall. We need to have, as many as possible, exchange of views and discussions and retreats to ensure our Organization is functioning in its best attitude. This is specifically important as our Heads of State in the ECO Summits have shown growing attention and interests to the ECO and its success. Council of Ministers and the ECO Secretariat are in fact the key guarantors for implementation of instructions issued by our leaders.

As I highlighted in COM meeting in Mashhad, the ECO Region can become one of the most vibrant emerging regions within the Global South if our collective untapped potential and capacities become fully realized. The recent Summits showed that political will for an enhanced ECO exists at the highest level in our countries. The Council of Ministers, as the highest decision-making body within the ECO, shall constantly reinforce this valuable will and re-generate this momentum.

Distinguished Colleagues,

Since 28th COM meeting in Mashhad, important developments happened in our region. Most notably, in June 2025, Israeli Zionist regime and United States committed aggressive, terrorist, and unlawful attacks against Iran, in flagrant violation of all norms and principles of international law and United Nations Charter. Over 12 days of brutal aggression, they targeted civilian people, peaceful nuclear facilities and public infrastructure, causing significant human casualties and material losses. This also affected the daily functioning of the ECO Secretariat.

Our armed forces exercised their legitimate right to self-defense, protecting the decent people of Iran, our national sovereignty and territorial integrity while preventing also the spread of war in the region. I thank the ECO Member States for their responsible positions and support shown during the crisis.

Since last Council meeting in Mashhad, Iran hosted two important ECO ministerial meetings; namely Interior Ministers meeting and Transport Ministers meeting which provided the line ministries with opportunity to discuss and agree on certain course of actions in areas such as transport and transit, logistics, cross-border movement, disaster management, law enforcement and drugs control. There were also some other ministerial and high-level sectoral meetings across the ECO Region with direct bearing and impacts on our regional cooperation. A new promising development took place just this Wednesday in Istanbul where ECO trade ministers adopted a two-year roadmap to re-negotiate ECOTA with a view to putting an end to the long deadlock in trade liberalization in the ECO Region. This can also boost cooperation in trade-related areas in our region. Traders and other stakeholders in the ECO Region certainly need to interact in an ECO Free Trade Area in near future.

After Council meeting in Mashhad, our colleagues in the foreign ministries and the Secretariat started to develop a new ECO 10-year vision document. We believe that ECO needs some paradigm shifts and re-designing of its architecture. We shall not continue the same format and directions for the new vision while disregarding drastic changes and challenges at the global and regional levels.

Our countries shall become more resilient, integrated and powerful against the possible future risks and shocks. The ECO is still the best existing platform for our countries to develop and prosper collectively. The ECO Vision Committee should develop a more fitting, effective and feasible document for the next 10 years. Any vision and goals and objectives shall also make our region more inter-connected physically and technologically.

We congratulate Turkmenistan for successful hosting of  “Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries” in August 2025. As a transit country, Iran is prepared to cooperate with the ECO Secretariat and the Member States to implement “Awaza Programme of Action” in our region to the interest of all 7 ECO landlocked countries. 

Mr. Chairman,

Distinguished Colleagues,

Iran’s full support to the ECO is absolutely unconditional and undeniable. President Pezeshkian’s participation in the ECO Summit in Khankandy portrayed this policy in the best way when he attended the Summit in the time of Israeli and US attacks against our country.

Promisingly, in the last 10 years or so, we witnessed an enhanced sense of ownership and engagement inside the ECO Membership. This spirit needs to be re-generated and re-enforced. We are grateful to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan who accepted to fill the chairmanship gap and take over the ECO chairmanship as of 1 January 2026. 

In conclusion, let me thank Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, the ECO Secretary General, for his visionary leadership of the ECO Secretariat. I also seize this opportunity to welcome Minister Mottaghi from Afghanistan to our meeting today. 

I thank you for your attention.