Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Iran on Monday slammed the Munich Security Conference’s organizers over their invitation to Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed shah, to attend last weekend’s event.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani stated that inviting the son of a deposed and fugitive dictator to the Munich summit is a mockery of the “great nation of Iran”, reported AFP.
The shah was overthrown during the 1979 Islamic revolution that had been led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Pahlavi, 62, who now resides in the United States had been invited to the event while Iranian officials were not, and delivered a speech.
Munich conference invitation to Reza Pahlavi faces criticism
Kanani, speaking at a weekly press briefing, criticized the organizers of the event they made a huge mistake for “giving the stage to notorious people”.
Munich Security Conference’s president Christoph Heusgen stated in early February that he had not invited Iran to attend because of the crackdown on protests that began in mid-September 2022.
Iran has been rocked by waves of protests since the September 16 custodial death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old. The ethnic Kurd woman had died after her arrest for allegedly violating the country’s stringent dress code for women.
Pahlavi is one of the many components of the Iranian opposition based outside Iran but has failed to become the sole representative of the diaspora.
He faces criticism for being unable to distance himself from the dictatorial rule of his father, for not acting against pro-monarchy supporters on social media, and for lacking transparency on his idea for governance.
