Iranian officials have been disinvited from the Munich Security Conference after the brutal crackdown against protesters in Iran.
“Several weeks ago, an invitation was extended to individual government representatives from Iran,” a spokesman told dpa on Friday. “In light of current events, the Munich Security Conference will not be maintaining these invitations.”
The Foreign Office in Berlin had previously warned against inviting Iranian officials to the world-leading conference on security issues, which is due to be held in the Bavarian capital from February 13-15.
“We consider participation inappropriate in view of the bloody suppression of protests,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The protests were triggered by a dramatic economic crisis, very high inflation and widespread dissatisfaction with the leadership in Tehran. Iran’s security forces have brutally suppressed the protests, with thousands of deaths reported.
Iran was not invited to attend the conference in the past three years under the previous chair, Christoph Heusgen. This year’s chairman, Wolfgang Ischinger, initially decided otherwise before withdrawing the invitation.
The security conference has not yet commented on whether Iranian opposition figures living in exile will participate in the 2026 edition.
Last year, Reza Pahlavi, son of the Shah of Iran who was overthrown in 1979, was in attendance.
Iranian demonstrators set fire while blocking a street during a protest at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar in response to worsening economic conditions. -/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
