Iran will invite Saudi King Abdullah to NAM summit

A senior Iranian official dismisses reports about Tehran’s refusal to invite Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran, saying an invitation will be presented to him.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will extend [President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s invitation to the Saudi King to participate in the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told IRNA on Monday.

Reports about Iran’s decision not to invite the Saudi King to the NAM summit are not valid, he added.

Earlier reports claimed that Tehran would not invite Saudi King Abdullah to the Tehran summit following the execution of a group of Iranian nationals in the Arab state.

On April 18, Press TV reported that Saudi Arabia had executed eight Iranian sailors in the eastern city of Dammam without any legal proceedings.

According to the Saudi Al-Tagheer news channel, the executions were carried out on April 15 on the order of the Saudi Interior Ministry, which has been implicated in the unrest in Syria and the violence in Iraq as well.

On May 30, the Persian-language Tabnak news website reported that Saudi officials in Dammam executed 10 more Iranian citizens.

The website added that a total of 25 Iranians were kept at Dammam prison of whom 18 were executed in two stages.

Amir-Abdollahian said Iran’s Foreign Ministry is making use of all potentialities and is seriously pursuing the case of Saudi government’s recent execution of 18 Iranian prisoners on false drug possession charges.

“We cannot regard the Saudi Arabia’s move as a simple and merely technical measure,” he stated.

After reports about the execution of Iranian inmates in Saudi jails were confirmed, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi Arabian chargé d’ affaires on June 11.

The Foreign Ministry expressed the Islamic Republic’s strong objection to the executions, announcing that Tehran will pursue the case by means of relevant bodies.