Iran’s foreign minister will not be attending the Davos summit in Switzerland this week, the organizers said Monday, stressing it would not be “right” after the recent deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran.
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Abbas Araghchi had been scheduled to speak on Tuesday during the annual gathering of the global elite at the upscale Swiss ski resort town.
But activists have been calling on the World Economic Forum organizers to disinvite him amid what rights groups have called a “massacre” in his country.
“The Iranian Foreign Minister will not be attending Davos,” the World Economic Forum said on X.
“Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year,” it added.
Demonstrations sparked by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests late December in what has been widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in recent years.
The rallies subsided after a government crackdown under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights says it has verified the deaths of 3,428 protesters killed by security forces, confirming cases through sources within the Islamic Republic’s health and medical system, witnesses and independent sources.
The NGO warned that the true toll is likely to be far higher. Media cannot independently confirm the figure and Iranian officials have not given an exact death toll.The Alpine village of Davos, Switzerland, hosts the World Economic Forum. Denis Balibouse/Reuters
DAVOS, Switzerland—President Trump video-conferenced into the World Economic Forum a year ago demanding lower interest rates from the global elites gathered and threatening tariffs against those making products anywhere but America.
This year, he is heading in person to the Alpine summit with an entourage of U.S. officials against a backdrop of a world in flux, in large part because of his own unconventional actions at home and abroad. Suddenly, an event once dismissed as a talking shop for executives who think they can solve the world’s problems has become a must-attend gathering that people are eager to attend.
