Iran is hosting a three-day conference this week focusing on "police brutality against blacks in America," according to the event announcement.
Foreign Desk reported that the event’s organizer, Nader Talebzadeh, told an Iranian news outlet that he had extended invitations to the conference to 30 "anti-Israel blacks" from the United States. He said that the conference, beginning Monday, would feature "human rights defenders" and "social activists."
"Blacks in America are the only group who utilize their right to protest, and Iran is the perfect place to host them and to initiate a direct relationship with this segment of the American population," Talebzadeh said.
"This will be the start of a relationship based on culture, diplomacy, and revolution. We hope to serve as an international example," Talebzadeh explained, noting that the treatment of African Americans at the hands of police is important to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei has previously accused U.S. law enforcement of using "cruel might" against blacks.
"In the U.S. whose president is now a black person, the black people are oppressed, disrespected and humiliated, and such behavior has provided the ground for unrests too," the supreme leader was quoted as saying in April by the state-controlled Fars news agency.
Talebzadeh labeled the conference the "beginning of a cultural revolution and resistance and an international model for public diplomacy."
Another conference organizer, Reza Montazami, likened the treatment of blacks by law enforcement in America to the way in which the "Zionist regime" treats Palestinians in Israel.
"Israeli and American forces are working together. It is evident that the way police treat blacks is identical to the treatment of Palestinians by the Zionist regime in Israel," Montazami said. "It is my belief that Americans should consider it imperative to start making their own decisions and not allow the Zionists to interfere in important intellectual matters."
Last month, the Telegraph reported that Iran was reaching out to families of blacks fatally shot by police and inviting them to the so-called anti-discrimination conference.
The event was the third annual "New Horizon" conference in Iran. The two previous conferences drew anti-Israel activists, Holocaust deniers, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists. Last year’s conference also featured CODEPINK co-founder and anti-war activist Medea Benjamin and several 9/11 truthers.