COPENHAGEN, Denmark (HPD) — Iran’s ambassador has been excluded from this year’s Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm due to “the serious and worrying situation” in the country, the private foundation that manages the awards announced Friday. prestigious awards.
Earlier in the week, envoys from Russia and Belarus were banned from the lavish event due to the war in Ukraine.
“We believe that, given the grave and worrying situation, the Iranian ambassador should not be invited to the Nobel Prize award ceremony,” the Nobel Foundation said in a statement. Ambassadors stationed in Sweden are normally invited to the annual event on December 10.
Under the slogan #WomanLifeFreedom (#MujerVidaLibertad), at first the mobilizations focused on the rights of women and the state obligation that women cover their heads with the hijab, or Islamic veil. But they quickly evolved into calls to topple Shiite clerics who have ruled the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The protests have also attracted university students, unions, prisoners and ethnic minorities, such as the Kurds who live on the border with Iraq. Since the start of the marches, security forces have used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters, with more than 200 dead, according to rights groups.
The foundation also said this week that it will comply with the tradition of inviting all political leaders represented in the Swedish parliament, with the exception of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats. Following the general election on September 11, the party is the second largest in the chamber and a close partner of the new centre-right government. In addition, he has tried to distance himself from his far-right roots.
The Nobel Prizes are awarded on December 10, the anniversary of the death of its founder, Alfred Nobel, in 1896.