Iran’s Delegation Walks Out Of UN Summit Over Israel's Presence

Iranian delegates walked out of UN climate talks in the United Arab Emirates Friday in protest over the presence of Israeli representatives.

Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, who heads the Iranian delegation, said Iran considers Israel’s presence at COP28 “as contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference and, in protest, it left the conference venue.”

On Thursday, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi also announced that he would not attend the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, citing the presence of his Israeli counterpart.

It is not clear that why Tehran had sent the delegation in the first place as it knew about Israel’s participation in advance enough to cancel Raisi’s trip.

The UAE and Israel normalized relations during the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States when in 2020 the Abraham Accords opened diplomatic ties along with other Arab nations such as Bahrain.

During Herzog's inaugural visit to the UAE last year, the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen sent a ballistic missile to the Persian Gulf state amidst a period of attacks which killed three. The missile was intercepted by the UAE. The Houthis' military spokesman said they fired Zulfiqar missiles at Abu Dhabi and launched drones at Dubai.