Iran Quits UN Climate Change Conference over Israeli Participation

Iran’s representatives walked out of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday over the participation of delegates from Israel.

The Times of Israel reported: “The Iranian side considers Israel’s presence at COP28 ‘as contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference and, in protest, it left the conference venue,’ Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, who heads the Iranian delegation, is quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.”

The Palestinian terror group Hamas, which is backed by Iran, has also reportedly urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is one of the pioneer nations in the Abraham Accords, to expel Israel from the conference. The UAE, which has not downgraded relations with Israel during its war against Hamas, which was started by the terror group on October 7, is unlikely to comply.

Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, is at the conference, conducting side meetings with representatives of various nations to urge their support in freeing Israeli hostages.