Geneva — Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to attend the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, transforming the multilateral gathering into a bold political stage for Tehran’s global messaging.
Held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from July 29 to 31, the conference is co-hosted by the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), convening representatives from over 110 national parliaments. Qalibaf, leading the Iranian delegation, used the platform not just for ceremonial diplomacy, but as a megaphone to indict what he called the “21st-century Nazism” of Israel and its Western enablers.
In his keynote address, Qalibaf denounced what he described as the international community’s “institutional silence” on the Genocide in Gaza, lambasting the United Nations Security Council, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court for issuing what he called “paper verdicts without consequence.” According to him, these bodies have “failed catastrophically” to prevent the systematic starvation, destruction, and targeting of civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The conference, framed by the IPU as a moment to “reaffirm multilateral cooperation in upholding the UN Charter,” instead became the stage for a stark political message: Western hypocrisy has enabled the obliteration of Gaza. “This is not a war—it is a slaughterhouse,” Qalibaf said, holding the US, UK, France, and Germany accountable for supplying arms, diplomatic cover, and financial support to Israel.
He accused these nations of “fueling the apartheid regime with the oxygen of impunity,” painting a picture of deliberate international complicity. In a sharply worded section of his speech, he compared the Israeli campaign to “the industrial-scale extermination of a people” and warned that history would judge those who remained neutral.
The timing of his remarks was significant. The Geneva conference marks the first global parliamentary summit since the Israeli military’s June attacks on Iranian sites, including alleged strikes on civilian areas, universities, and scientific infrastructure. Qalibaf referenced those strikes as part of a broader campaign of aggression against Iran’s sovereignty, characterizing Iran’s retaliatory response as a “measured and legitimate exercise of self-defense.”
Iran claims that over 1,100 civilians were killed in the Israeli strikes between June 13 and June 25. Qalibaf insisted that Iran’s counterattack halted Israel’s offensive and pushed Tel Aviv to seek de-escalation—a narrative starkly different from the one circulated in Western capitals.
Beyond military confrontations, Qalibaf focused on the need to reimagine global governance. He called for the formation of an “independent parliamentary bloc” that transcends the West’s dominance over multilateral institutions. According to him, the moral vacuum created by Western foreign policy must be filled with alternative legal and political structures rooted in true global representation.
Back home, Iranian media has portrayed Qalibaf’s participation in Geneva as a symbol of national unity in a post-conflict atmosphere. Iran’s political factions, often fractured by ideological divisions, were said to be unified in their support of the government’s stance during and after the recent confrontations with Israel. Qalibaf himself has emphasized this moment of cohesion as a model for foreign policy consistency moving forward.
In addition to participating in conference sessions, Qalibaf is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with parliamentary leaders from Latin America, Asia, and Africa, many of whom have expressed discontent with Western foreign policy dominance. He is also expected to meet with Iranian expatriates in Switzerland to discuss diaspora legislation and rights.
The Iranian delegation’s goal, according to officials, is not merely to attend but to set the tone. Qalibaf’s presence, speech, and side meetings underscore Iran’s ambitions to recalibrate global diplomacy away from what it sees as a Western monopoly on moral authority.
According to Mehr News Agency, Qalibaf stated that Iran is using this “exceptional opportunity” to promote justice-oriented governance and to expose the West’s double standards on human rights and sovereignty.
As noted by the Tehran Times, Qalibaf’s speech positioned the Genocide in Gaza not as a localized humanitarian crisis but as a litmus test for the credibility of the international order. “Those who are silent,” he warned, “are partners in crime.”
And as reported by IRNA, Iranian officials see Qalibaf’s Geneva visit as a landmark diplomatic effort that bridges parliamentary diplomacy with Iran’s regional strategy, particularly amid intensifying geopolitical realignments.
