Iran's foreign minister cancels attendance at Davos summit

Iran's top diplomat has cancelled his trip and will not be attending the Davos Forum, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Monday amid a crisis with Washington and disputes with Europe over Iran's nuclear steps.

The summit in the Swiss resort also comes after Iran earlier this month shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board. Tensions also remain high between Iran and the U.S. after an America drone killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Iran's top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, had been invited and plans had been made for him to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

However, according to Mousavi, officials at the forum changed plans involving Zarif, which led to the diplomat cancelling his trip, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.