Reason for Iran's absence

Manama: Iran's conspicuous absence in the Manama Dialogue is a reaction from its Foreign Ministry after the security conference organisers, the London-based International Institute for Security Strategies (IISS), refused to extend an invitation to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), sources told Gulf News.

IPIS last December organised in Tehran a conference of Holocaust deniers, attended by participants from 30 countries, including several from Europe, an American white-supremacist politician and Jews from the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect who argued that the Holocaust was either fabricated or exaggerated.

"The Iranian Foreign Ministry had informed the organisers that it wanted IPIS to attend the annual summit, but IISS refused, prompting the Foreign Ministry to cancel its much-anticipated participation. The Iranians made it clear that they would take part in the conference only if IPIS was also invited," the sources said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had been scheduled to attend the conference, but the Iranians later said he would not attend and that it would not send a delegation.

Tehran's extraordinary decision on Friday morning caught most of the participants, not to mention the organisers, unawares and prompted a wide array of speculation among diplomats and the media.

IISS press officer Kay Floyd said that they were informed only a few hours before the start of the conference that the Iranian delegation was not coming.

Iran's ambassador to Bahrain Hussain Amir Abdullahian, on Friday afternoon told Gulf News there had been attempts to have the Iranian delegation in Manama, but that these attempts did not succeed. He did not elaborate.