Iranian President Cites Israeli Attacks for Eurasian Forum Absence
Iran's President Pezeshkian cancels EAEU summit trip after Israeli strikes, addresses forum remotely. Cites UN Charter self-defense right, condemns attacks on nuclear sites & civilians. Summit in Minsk focuses on Eurasian economic cooperation amid rising Mideast tensions.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced Friday that recent Israeli strikes on Iranian territory forced him to cancel plans to attend the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Belarus, addressing the forum instead via video conference.
Speaking from Tehran on June 27, Pezeshkian referred to the recent 12-day war between Iran and Israel and stated that, under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Iran had exercised its right to defend its people, sovereignty, and territory. He warned that failure to respond to Israel’s escalation could have led to widespread conflict across the region.
"The attacks and violations committed by Israel against Iranian soil made it impossible for me to attend the forum in person," he said. "On June 13, Iran was subjected to a brutal Israeli strike, followed by a U.S. attack, at a time when we were engaged in indirect negotiations with the United States."
The president emphasized that the Israeli strike targeted Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities, which operate under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He accused Israel and the United States of violating international law and conventions, calling their actions a grave and deliberate breach.
He further stated that Israel’s recent aggression deliberately targeted Iranian security and military forces located far from their operational zones, as well as university professors, civilians, residential areas, and cultural sites. As a result, many Iranian citizens were killed or injured.
The Eurasian Economic Union forum, which opened Thursday, June 26, in Minsk, Belarus, brought together over 2,700 participants from 33 countries. The summit’s second day commenced Friday, focusing on five central themes: the internal market quality of the EAEU, digital transformation, intra-Eurasian cooperation, strategic development, and technological capability.
Pezeshkian’s absence from the forum marks a significant moment in Iran's diplomatic calendar, highlighting growing tensions in the region following what Tehran described as coordinated and unlawful attacks on its sovereign institutions.
