Iran will not be invited to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden’s capital of Stockholm because of the “escalating situation” in the West Asian country, the Nobel Foundation said on Friday.
The foundation has already barred the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus from attending the event due to the conflict in Ukraine.
“We believe that given the serious and escalating situation, Iran’s ambassador should not be invited to the Nobel Prize award ceremony,” the foundation said in a statement.
It was referring to the Iran government’s brutal crackdown on protests that broke out after the death of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s religious police.
The protests broke out a week after the funeral of Amini, who was detained on September 13 in Tehran by the police unit that enforces the country’s obligatory dress codes, including the mandatory wearing of the headscarf in public. The police had accused her of wearing hijab in an “improper manner”.
Protestors believe she was physically assaulted in detention on accusations of violating the hijab mandate. So far, over 200 people have been killed in the protests, according to rights groups.
The Nobel Prizes are always handed out on December 10 – the death anniversary of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel, who established the awards. Usually, all ambassadors in Sweden are invited to attend the annual event.
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