Official: Hosting NAM Summit to Boost Iran’s Diplomacy

Hosting the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) by Iran will boost Tehran’s diplomatic power, a senior Iranian official said.

The 16th NAM summit will be held in Tehran from August 26 to 31.

Iran will assume the rotating presidency of the movement from Egypt for three years during the upcoming summit.

Speaking to the Islamic republic news agency, Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Sowlat Mortazavi said the summit is a golden opportunity for Iran and it will promote Iran’s diplomatic capability.

Given the wave of propaganda raised by the western states against Iran, hosting the summit is of paramount significance, he noted.

Referring to the wrong claims by the West, Mortazavi said that Iran will never be isolated under any condition.

Earlier, Iranian officials said that all the members of the Non-Aligned Movement have declared their readiness to attend the bloc’s foreign ministerial and heads-of-state meetings in Tehran late August.

“All the 120 members of the Movement will attend the meeting,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters on the sidelines of today’s cabinet meeting in Tehran.

Iran also announced earlier this month that over 30 presidents have announced their readiness to attend the gathering.

NAM is comprised of some 120 member states and 17 observer countries.

NAM is an international organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. NAM is the largest grouping of countries outside of the United Nations.

NAM member states represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’ members and comprise 55% of the world population, particularly countries considered to be developing.