The Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Friday revoked invitations to Iranian government representatives following the violent response of Iranian security forces to recent protests.

The decision followed advice from the German Foreign Office, which said participation would be wrong amid reports of mass fatalities.

What did the MSC say about the Iran invites?

"Several weeks ago, invitations were issued to individual government representatives from Iran. In light of current events, the Munich Security Conference will not uphold these invitations," an MSC spokesperson told the German Press Agency in response to an inquiry.

Earlier, the German Foreign Office had advised against extending an invitation. "We consider participation inappropriate in view of the bloody suppression of protests," a spokesperson said at a press conference.

Reports had emerged that Iranian Foreign Minister that Abbas Araghchi intended to take part in the Munich Security Conference.

"We advised against this invitation and underlined that position once again," said the foreign office spokesperson.

Is Iran usually invited to the conference?

The Munich Security Conference, considered one of the world's most important security policy gatherings, is scheduled to take place from February 13 to 15 at Munich's Bayerischer Hof hotel. Iran had not been invited in the past three years under previous conference chair Christoph Heusgen.

Current conference head Wolfgang Ischinger, who for years led the conference and is acting head until Norway's Jens Stoltenberg takes up the role, had initially opted to extend an invitation but later reversed the decision. 

The MSC has not yet said whether Iranian opposition figures living in exile will be invited. Last year, Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's deposed shah, attended the conference.

The protests in Iran were triggered by a severe economic crisis, but quickly turned political with demonstrators calling for an end to the clerical rule established under the Islamic Republic nearly five decades ago. Iranian security forces have responded with force, with reports of thousands of deaths.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar