Iranian representatives walked out of negotiations at the UN climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday to protest the presence of an Israeli delegation, state media reported.
Iranians consider Israel’s presence at COP28 “as contrary to the objectives and guidelines of the conference and, as a sign of protest, they are leaving the conference venue,” said the head of the Iranian delegation, Minister of Energy, Ali Akbar Mehrabian, quoted by the official Iranian agency Irna. Earlier Thursday, the agency indicated that Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi “is not participating in the UN meeting on climate change” due to “the invitation of officials of the Zionist regime.”
The deadly war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, has raised fears of a regional conflagration. Iran, which does not recognize Israel, supports Hamas, particularly since the bloody attack launched on October 7 by the Palestinian movement on Israeli soil.
Among the approximately 180 heads of state and government expected according to the organizers by December 12, the theoretical end of the COP, is Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who was to take advantage of the opportunity to lead a series of diplomatic meetings. In a telephone interview with his Emirati counterpart Abdallah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian this week regretted “the presence” at the COP “of those responsible for the occupation regime in view of the crimes “war and genocide” perpetrated by “the Zionist regime”.