A Guards-linked outlet has criticized an Iranian standards official for sitting at the same roundtable as an Israeli representative at last month’s ISO meeting in Rwanda, warning that such contact could carry legal penalties.
Fars News Agency said the photos showed Farahnaz Ghollasi, deputy head of Iran’s National Standards Organization, seated at the same table as Gilad Golub, chief executive of Israel’s Standards Institution, during the Kigali conference held from October 6 to 10. It said the images, later removed from the ISO website, were verified through its own checks.
The outlet called the encounter “unprecedented” under Iranian policy, noting that law prohibits any contact or cooperation with Israeli institutions and can lead to imprisonment or permanent dismissal from public service. It also recalled that Iranian athletes have long refused to compete against Israelis in international events.
Fars added that the episode came shortly after the June war between Iran and Israel and noted that the sister of Farzaneh Ansari, who led Iran’s delegation to the ISO meeting, was among those killed in Israeli strikes during the conflict.
The agency also repeated earlier conservative criticism of Ghollasi’s appearance at international gatherings, saying she had previously been reprimanded for dress code violations.
Golub’s office told Iran International that he had sat at a shared conference table as part of a multilateral discussion and that “no direct meeting took place.”
It added, “We did not know the woman sitting opposite was Iranian, head covering does not necessarily indicate nationality."
Iran and Israel have no diplomatic ties, and Iranian delegates are typically instructed to avoid any engagement with Israeli representatives. The ISO annual meeting in Kigali brought together officials from more than 160 member states to discuss emerging global standards.
