Religious and interfaith leaders from around the world gathering in Azerbaijan for COP29 have condemned a cleric from Iran after he used his opportunity to speak to attack Israel.

More than 350 leaders representing over 50 different religions took part in the pre-COP29 summit in Baku, entitled “World Religions for a Green Planet”, and each was allotted five minutes during their turn to explain why environmentalism is important within the confines of their own religion.

At least one delegate, a senior Iranian Shia cleric named Hamid Shahriari, used his time to instead lambast the “hyper-capitalist axis” led by the United States, which he said was responsible for the “worsening situation every day for the women and children of Palestine and Lebanon.”

Iranian cleric Hamid Shahriari as a COP29 delegate

Without mentioning Israel by name, referring to the country instead as “the aggressor”, Shahriari charged the country with being “more interested in killing children” than environmental practices.

Shahriari, who was appointed by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei as the general secretary of The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought in 2019, said the “aggressor’s war” constituted a war crime and its perpetrators “must be brought to the International Court”.

He questioned why the “cries of more than 23,000 children” who have died is of “no importance to international leaders pursuing world peace”.

Iranian cleric Hamid Shahriari as a COP29 delegate

He said it was “not enough” to simply condemn, imploring “international leaders to come together to punish [Israel] for their actions.”

“World peace,” he said, “will only be guaranteed comprehensively when all criminals are brought to justice. Justice is the only way to save humanity from the evil of war. In Islam, justice depends on punishing those who have committed crimes.

“Otherwise,” he added, “just war is the duty of every Muslim and Islamic nation.”

One panellist, British rabbi Jackie Tabick, who in 1975 became the first female rabbi ordained in the United Kingdom, said she felt “very uncomfortable” listening to the speech, which seemed “to suddenly pounce” on Israel.

Rabbi Tabick said: “There was no reason, given the nature of the conference, which is interfaith and supposed to be dealing with the environment, to suddenly start accusing Israel.

Pre-COP29 event 'World Religions for a Green Planet', November 2023

“Well, I wanted to say to him, maybe the war would stop if you’d stop funding Hamas and Hezbollah.” She added, “I would wish that people saw balance and were prepared to acknowledge that the violence was initiated by Hamas and Hezbollah, not Israel.”

She said that despite the vast majority of panellists “politely clapping” at the end of the speech, she hoped most had private reservations. “I’ve talked to many open-minded Muslim people and bodies here at the conference who see both points of view. So, I don’t think Iran’s words were very popular.”

Rabbi Jacqueline Hazel Tabick (near centre) with other religious leader delegates at COP29

A senior figure in the interfaith dialogue organisation KAICIID called the comments “unbefitting” of an invitee and “at odds with what we hoped to discuss here,” while the chair of the G20 Interfaith Forum, Cole Durham, who was also present, said the speech was “inappropriate”.

The chief rabbi of the of Azerbaijani Ashkenazi community, Shneor Segal, said that had it been up to him, they would not have been allowed to talk about the war.

Chief Rabbi of Azerbaijan Shneor Segal at COP29

“The most important thing for us,” he said, “is that the words were said not by a local representative [from Azerbaijan]. We are here for the Jewish community of Azerbaijan, and we value coexistence proudly. Most of what was said at the conference was positive.”

The chief rabbi of Geneva, Izhak Dayan, said he felt “very, very bad” when he heard the speech. “I didn’t hear these same people blaming Hamas on October 7,” he said.