Iranian foreign minister declines to attend Davos economic forum

Teheran, Jan 21 (Prensa Latina) Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Yavad Zarif declined to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, after suspicions that organizers would put limits to his participation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Tuesday.

Zarif received formal invitations and in person, but later changes were introduced to the initial agenda, implying the marginalization of the head of Iranian diplomacy, the spokesman said. In Mousavi's view, this was an opportunity for dialogue that was lost.

Because of these strange manoeuvres, he added, Zarif decided not to participate in the forum.

In Davos, a remote town in the Swiss Alps, the CEOs of companies that generate 70 percent of the world's business are meeting today, as well as important political leaders.

The changes in the Iranian minister's agenda are believed to be the work of the United States as part of its increased hostility against the Islamic republic.

Earlier this month, the U.S. government denied Zarif a visa to participate in a special session of the U.N. Security Council.

In doing so, Washington violated the United Nations headquarters agreement, approved in 1947, by which the host country pledged to facilitate and not hinder the meetings of the world's highest organization.