Iranian FM Zarif walks out of Rome hotel before Knesset Speaker's speech

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein made light of the incident by tweeting: "Not so terrible."

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Updated: NOVEMBER 23, 2018 14:47
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a meeting with European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Brussels, Belgium January 11, 2018 (photo credit: POOL)
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a meeting with European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Brussels, Belgium January 11, 2018
(photo credit: POOL)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif left the Rome hotel lobby where the MED conference on Middle Eastern affairs was taking place, before Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein's speech on Friday.
Edelstein made light of the incident by tweeting "Not so terrible."
The foreign ministers of Oman, Qatar and Tunisia were also absent from the conference during Edelstein's speech, Walla News reported.
Edelstein, who spoke about how Israeli innovations in agriculture and water desalination are embraced by African countries, India and China, said, "It's unfortunate that such amazing cooperation with Israel can be seen in such remote places, but not in Arab countries that are in our backyard."