Iran declines invitation to US-led Sharm el-Sheikh Gaza peace summit
Shafaq News – Tehran
Iran rejected a US invitation to attend Sharm el-Sheikh summit in Egypt, where world leaders are set to formalize a ceasefire agreement ending the war in Gaza, Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday.
An Iranian official told Tasnim that Tehran refused to participate despite receiving an official invitation. The decision follows Hamas’s own withdrawal from the planned signing ceremony, announced earlier by member of Hamas’s political bureau Husam Badran.
The summit, scheduled for October 13, will be co-chaired by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It aims to chart Gaza’s post-war future after the recently brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which calls for the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a phased Israeli withdrawal.
More than 20 countries have confirmed participation, including the UK, France, Italy, Turkiye, Jordan, and Spain. The US State Department said the expanded guest list also includes Japan, India, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Canada, among others.
Israel’s cabinet approved the deal on October 10, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backing the US-mediated plan despite objections from far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. The truce comes after two years of war that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.
