Iran’s FM blames Israel after Davos speech nixed over deadly crackdown; Herzog hits back |
PARIS, France — Iran’s foreign minister hit out at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos late Monday for canceling his appearance over a brutal crackdown on recent protests and said the decision was based on “lies and political pressure from Israel,” earning a sharp rebuke from President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday.
Protests in Iran sparked by economic strain in late December exploded into the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years, with the full scale of the violent crackdown yet to emerge due to an internet blackout.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had been slated to speak on Tuesday at the annual gathering of global elites in Switzerland, but was disinvited after the WEF said it would not be “right” due to the “loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks.”
Araghchi said on X that his appearance was canceled “on the basis of lies and political pressure from Israel and its US-based proxies and apologists.”
He called it a “blatant double standard” to disinvite him while inviting Israel after its war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza, saying it “conveys moral depravity and intellectual bankruptcy.”
Iranian officials have said the........