Ban Ki-moon defends Iran visit

TEHRAN,Sept.2(MNA) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon defended his visit to Iran, saying on Friday that he believes in the power of diplomacy, dialogue, and engagement. “I believe in the power of diplomacy and I believe in dialogues and I believe in engagement. This is exactly what I did during my visit to Tehran,” Ban told Reuters on a stopover in Dubai before flying back to UN headquarters in New York. Ban visited Tehran to attend the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of 120 countries. In response to criticism from the United States and Israel he said, “As a secretary general of the United Nations, I have a mandate to engage with all the member states of the United Nations.”