Iran stops carrying out UNESCO 2030 Agenda: Gov't spokesman

EghtesadOnline: Iran has stopped carrying out the UNESCO 2030 Agenda after opposition of Supreme Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and it will not be resumed until removal of certain ambiguities, said Government Spokesperson Mohammad Baqer Nobakht on Tuesday.

News ID: ۷۴۱۵۴۵

16 May 2017

Speaking in a press conference, Nobakht said that the educational agenda set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is not binding for any of its signatory countries, IRNA reported.

Ayatollah Khamenei in a recent speech slammed the superpowers' dominance over the United Nations and said “Why should a so-called ‘International’ community- which is definitely infiltrated by the superpowers—have the right to make decisions for the nations of the world with various cultures?'”

“The UNESCO 2030 Education Agenda and the like are not issues that the Islamic Republic of Iran could surrender and submit to,” the Leader said in his address to a large group of teachers and education specialists and university students on the occasion of the National Teachers' Day on May 7.

Referring to Leader’s opposition with the UNESCO’s Global Education 2030 Agenda, Nobakht said that the procedure to carry out the 2030 Agenda “was stopped after the Leader remarks and it will not be resumed until removal of some ambiguous parts and defining the details.”

The official further criticized “certain persons” for manipulating the issue of UNESCO 2030 Agenda to serve their own political purposes.

He said they are even trying to interpret policies of the Leader in a way which serves their own interests.

Nobakht added that Ayatollah Khamenei has said in one of his latest comments that his words were misinterpreted by certain persons.

There are those who are trying to portray the government as a body that has secretly signed a document without Majlis (Parliament) permission, Nobakht complained.