UN Chief's Presence At Tehran NAM Summit, Confirmed

Tehran, Aug 21, IRNA – Spokesman of Tehran 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit said here Monday despite claims made by some western media, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has definitely confirmed his presence at the summit. Mohammad-Reza Forqani added in an interview with an IRNA political Desk reporter, 'The UN secretary general would be accompanied by a delegation comprised of various UN affiliated organizations in this visit, whose final combination would be declared within the next few days.' Expressing surprise over some western media's dispatch of such false news about the Tehran NAM Summit, Forgani said, 'Absence of Mr. Ban at the upcoming summit is merely the result of daydreaming, or wild speculations of those western media.' The spokesman of Tehran 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit however said, 'Keeping in mind that there were recently immense lobbying to prevent the presence of the UN secretary general's presence at Tehran Nam Summit, the Western media had taken it for granted that Mr. Ban Ki-moon would not take part at this meeting, while that is not true.' Forqani further reiterated, 'The United Nations has always been present throughout the past NAM meetings and besides its responsibilities and routine activities, in such meetings the UN secretary general usually supports the activities of the UN affiliated organs at regional and international scenes.' He added, 'The United Nations meanwhile supports the activities of the organizations that are active in international peace and security fields, and particularly those which are active in regional and international crisis solving, trying to further strengthen them.' The spokesman of the 16th NAM Summit Executive Committee reiterated, 'Those are some of the reasons why Mr. Ban Ki-moon has announced even the program for his presence at Tehran 16th NAM Summit.' Forqani concluded his remarks noting, 'So far 100 countries have officially announced their intention to attend this meeting, out of which 41 countries will attend at highest level, while the others will send their vice presidents of Parliament Speakers. While the United States, Israel and their European allies are pulling out all the stops to isolate Iran over its nuclear program, the upcoming meeting of the heads of state of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran seems to be throwing a spanner in their works. The Non-Aligned Movement, the rotating presidency of which will be conferred to Iran on August 26, is a major international organization comprising 120 member states that represent the political, cultural, economic and social interests of the developing world./end