Iran’s Zarif to skip Davos forum over programme changes

Iran has said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will not attend this week’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland after organisers changed his programme.

The annual summit, which will kick off in the Swiss resort of Davos on Tuesday and last four days, has been overshadowed by escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.

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Zarif’s absence removes any chance of a showdown with US President Donald Trump, who is expected to attend the forum.

“They changed the original programme they had for him [Zarif], the programme that had been agreed upon, and came up with something else,” Abbas Mousavi, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, told a news conference in Tehran on Monday.

“Either way, this trip unfortunately will not happen,” he said.

Tensions between long-time foes Washington and Tehran have worsened after Trump’s decision in 2018 to withdraw his country from a landmark nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers.

The two countries appeared to be on the brink of war after a US drone strike on January 3 near Baghdad’s international airport killed one of the Islamic Republic’s top military commanders, Qasem Soleimani.

Iran hit back five days later by firing missiles at US targets in neighbouring Iraq, causing no fatalities.

Hours later, Iran’s armed forces accidentally downed a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran, killing all 176 people on board. US President Donald Trump had previously threatened to strike 52 targets within Iran if Tehran targeted US citizens or assets following Soleimani’s killing – and Iran has said the US bears some of the blame for the unintentional downing of the plane amid the heightened tensions.

‘Door not closed’

Addressing reporters on Monday, Mousavi also said that Iran had not closed the “door to negotiations” in efforts to resolve a dispute over the nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He added that any further move by Tehran to scale back its commitments to the deal, under which Iran  secured sanctions relief in return for accepting curbs on its nuclear programme, would depend on actions by other parties. 

Iran has gradually stepped back from its obligations to the JCPOA following the US’s move to quit the accord and re-impose stringent sanctions that have severely harmed the Iranian economy.

Britain, France and Germany, the remaining signatories to the pact along with Russia and China, triggered a dispute mechanism this month, citing Iranian violations.

The move started a diplomatic process that could lead to United Nations sanctions being reimposed. 

“Tehran still remains in the deal . The European powers’ claims about Iran violating the deal are unfounded,” Mousavi stressed, saying that the “door to negotiations” had not been closed. 

“Whether Iran will further decrease its nuclear commitments will depend on other parties and whether Iran’s interests are secured under the deal,” Mousavi said.

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