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World

Iran's Ghalibaf to skip BRICS parliamentary forum in Delhi; delegation to attend instead

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf will not attend the BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi on 26-27 October, Iran's embassy in India announced on Saturday, citing 'unforeseen circumstances'; an Iranian parliamentary delegation will attend in his place.

By James Calloway · · 1 min read

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a BRICS event
Photo: Messaggero Veneto

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, will not attend the BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi on 26-27 October, the Embassy of Iran in India announced on Saturday, 24 October, citing “certain unforeseen circumstances” (The Hindu).

The embassy said an Iranian parliamentary delegation would participate in the meeting of speakers of BRICS member countries instead, and reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to active participation in BRICS summits and meetings. The Tribune reported that the delegation will be led by Ahmed Naderi, a member of the Presidium of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Council (The Tribune).

Ghalibaf’s absence reverses a plan confirmed earlier in the week: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had confirmed that Ghalibaf was expected to attend, according to The Tribune and The Economic Times. The embassy gave no further reason for the change, and thanked India for its hospitality and arrangements for hosting the forum.

The announcement comes amid a dispute over medicine shipments: The Hindu reported that India had refused to allow a shipment of medicines to be transported to Tehran by Iran Air, while officials in Delhi said the cancellation was not connected to the medicine-supply bottleneck, noting that Indian medicines reach Iran through third countries such as Armenia and Oman. Iranian officials argued that humanitarian assistance is not under international sanction and said some temperature-sensitive medicines had become unusable after transport through third countries.

The 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum will be held at the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan in New Delhi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to interact with visiting delegations and a joint statement expected at its conclusion, The Tribune reported.

Sources

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