A rare public appearance by Iran’s foreign minister at a major Washington DC-based nuclear policy forum was abruptly canceled—not due to backlash from activists, but because Iran’s delegation allegedly refused to allow questions.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace canceled a planned virtual conversation with Iran’s foreign minister at its nuclear policy conference after his team requested changes limiting questions from the moderator and audience, the organization said on Saturday.
“The Iranian foreign minister’s team subsequently requested changes to the previously agreed format. These changes would have severely curtailed the ability of the moderator and the audience to question the foreign minister. As a result, Carnegie decided not to proceed with the session,” said Katelynn Vogt, Vice President for Communications at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a statement sent to Iran International.
The event was organized by the Carnegie Nuclear Policy Program, one of the Endowment’s leading initiatives focused on arms control, deterrence, and nuclear diplomacy.
The dispute comes as Araghchi is due to lead the third round of talks with Washington after US President Donald Trump warned Iran to come to a nuclear deal of face military attack.
"This cancellation follows the organizer’s decision to alter the format of the keynote into a debate," Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York said.
The foreign minister has seldom given interviews or other public discussions with Western media outlets or organizations about Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Shortly after the cancelation, Araghchi released the text of a speech he had prepared for the event.
Tehran denies seeking a bomb but Western countries and Israel doubt their intentions.
Araghchi’s invitation to the event had sparked backlash on social media from several US politicians as well as Iranian activists and diaspora members.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and current head of advocacy group United Against a Nuclear Iran criticized the invitation, saying that American think tanks should not “normalize officials from a regime which has plotted to kill President Trump and other Americans.”
Iranian-British activist and actress Nazanin Boniadi said that the unexplained death in custody of a German-Iranian activist on death row last year represented state repression that should disqualify officials' from public discussions in the West.
"Jamshid Sharmahd, a US resident, was kidnapped, tortured, and executed by the Islamic Republic—the latest example of the regime Araghchi represents. When US academic and policy institutions platform such officials while ignoring their crimes, they discredit themselves," she said in a post on X.
However, a source at Carnegie said Monday the cancellation was not due to pressure from any foreign government or lobbying group.
"Iran requested a last-minute change to the Q&A session and sought to cancel the Q&A session, but Carnegie did not accept the change," the source said.
