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The World Economic Forum (WEF) is under pressure to exclude Iranian regime members from its upcoming summit in Davos this week.
The advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has sent a letter to WEF President Borge Brende, urging the forum to refrain from inviting officials from Iran’s Islamic Republic. Despite this appeal, UANI informed Fox News Digital that they have yet to receive a response from WEF. Instead, the forum has scheduled an interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, set to take place on Sunday.
When approached for comment, the World Economic Forum did not immediately provide a response to Fox News Digital.
Mark Wallace, CEO of UANI and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, pointed to reports from human rights organizations that accuse Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime of widespread violence against Iranian civilians.
In related news, Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, is expected to address attendees at the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)
“Just this month, the Iranian regime has carried out what some believe to be the largest massacre in its history,” Wallace wrote to Brende. “Araghchi is a member of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), which reportedly issued an order to use live fire on Iranian civilians protesting. Estimates suggest the regime killed at least 12,000 and up to 20,000 Iranians over the course of a few days in January as they exercised their fundamental rights to demonstrate against the Ayatollah and his tyranny.”
“Hosting Iranian regime officials, such as Araghchi, who whitewash this record is deeply offensive and would be wholly inappropriate to platform at a Forum whose theme this year is ‘A Spirit of Dialogue.’ Instead of dialogue, the Islamic Republic offered bullets to these brave Iranians,” Wallace continued.
People gather during a protest against the Iranian regime on Jan. 8, 2026, in Tehran. (Anonymous/Getty Images)
Iran’s supreme leader publicly acknowledged for the first time Saturday that thousands of people were killed during recent anti-government protests, according to reporting from the BBC.
Khamenei made the remarks during a public address Saturday, blaming the U.S. for the unrest and violence and saying some protesters died “in an inhuman, savage manner.”
Protesters burn images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally held in solidarity with Iran’s uprising in London Jan. 11, 2026. (Carlos Jasso/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S.-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that more than 3,000 people were killed over roughly three weeks of unrest, though Iranian authorities have not released an official death toll and other estimates have been higher.
Videos authenticated by BBC Persian and BBC Verify show Iranian security forces firing on demonstrators during the unrest.
Trump told Politico on Saturday that “it’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” after being read a series of hostile posts from Khamenei’s X account accusing the president of responsibility for the violence.
Iran protests death toll spiked in recent days as human rights groups say thousands of people have been killed. (MAHSA/ Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” Trump said, according to Politico. “Leadership is about respect, not fear and death.”
