AhlulBayt News Agency: The Word Economic Forum in an unusual move has canceled an invitation of the Iranian foreign minister to the annual Davos forum. The news was broken by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who said that the World Economic Forum canceled his visit on the basis of “lies” of the Israeli regime and its backers and agents in the US. The top Iranian diplomat said that “there is an essential reality about the recent violence in Iran. We had to defend our people against the armed terrorists and the ISIS-style killings that were openly supported by Mossad.”
The World Economic Forum, commonly known as the Davos meeting, was founded in 1971 by Klaus Martin Schwab, a German-born professor of business at the University of Geneva. Since the sessions of this forum take place in Davos, Switzerland, it is often referred to in the media as the Davos summit.
The Inaugural meeting was held five decades ago in the city of Davos, which has hosted the annual gathering every year since. As a result, the name of the city is frequently used interchangeably with the event Itself.
Function and performance style of the Davos summit
In the early years of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Martin Schwab primarily invited economic leaders from Western Europe to participate in the gathering.
However, as time went on, political, economic, and social leaders from around the globe were invited, giving the World Economic Forum a truly international character.
While the Davos summit is not like United Nations conferences that result in formal resolutions, statements, and declarations, it creates a dynamic space for interaction and engagement among influential stakeholders. This very opportunity for connectivity has sometimes led to the resolution of political issues, exemplified by the 1988 Davos statement between Turkey and Greece or the 1992 meeting between Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk regarding developments in South Africa.
Failure of World Economic Forum's global goals
Despite the initial goals of the Davos summit to focus on global security issues, the effectiveness of this annual meeting has diminished in recent years. In fact, the 2021 summit did not take place, and the 2022 meeting was delayed until May due to the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily addressing pandemic-related policies, potential future outbreaks, and climate change. However, it fell short in making significant progress on both climate change and pandemic issues.
This year, with escalating tensions over Greenland and strained trans-Atlantic relations, Danish officials have opted not to attend this meeting in Davos. The World Economic Forum , in a statement, noted that “Danish government representatives were invited to this year’s meeting, and any decision regarding participation rests with the respective government.” The statement continued: “We confirm that the Danish government will not have a representative at this week’s Davos meeting.”
The dispute over Greenland has recently intensified following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on imports from eight NATO countries. This prompted the European Union to consider imposing tariffs on 93 billion euros (approximately 108 billion dollars) worth of American goods.
Dual standards
Double standards have emerged as another major criticism from human rights activists regarding the Davos summit. While the organizers of the forum canceled an invitation to Iran’s foreign minister under pressure from Tel Aviv, they failed to respond to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who has waged a genocidal war on Gaza for two years, during the ongoing conflict.
In this context, Iran’s foreign minister remarked on the irony that the genocide of Palestinians by Israel and the collective killing of 71,000 innocent people did not lead the forum to revoke its invitation to Israeli officials. In fact, President Isaac Herzog of Israel even made a triumphant appearance in Davos in January 2024, all while facing criminal charges in Switzerland for blatant genocide in Gaza.
Fear of Iranian presence
Some experts have suggested that the cancellation of the invitation to Iran’s foreign minister at the Davos summit was due to concerns about remarks made by Araghchi regarding Mossad’s plans and Western efforts to overthrow the Iranian government. Given that the Iranian foreign minister possessed extensive documents and evidence regarding the presence of armed terrorist elements in the recent unrest in Iran, many in the West and even Tel Aviv were worried that Iran’s evidence presented at Davos could further weaken the forces seeking to undermine the Iranian government. Additionally, it could lead to a global condemnation of Mossad’s terrorist activities in Iran.
On the other hand, experts believe that the West and Israel’s fear of the Iranian foreign minister’s attendance stemmed from the fact that such participation would render Western maximum pressure policy for isolating Iran ineffective. Consequently, Tel Aviv and Washington pushed hard to cancel Iranian diplomat’s invitation.
Furthermore, the presence of Iran’s foreign minister at the high-profile economic forum symbolizes the normalization of Iran’s economic situation. For the Americans, which have long sought to drive the Iranian economy toward collapse through maximum pressure campaign, the attendance of Araghchi at Davos would represent a failure of those sanctions. This concern likely contributed to the heightened pressure to cancel the invitation for Iran’s foreign minister. Such a presence could undermine the narrative of isolation that the US has tried to maintain regarding Iran’s international standing and economic resilience.
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