IranPalestine

Palestinian Authority President, FM to Visit Iran for NAM Summit

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Riyadh Al-Maliki will visit Tehran to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit meeting in coming days.

Palestinian Envoy to the UN Riyadh H. Mansour said “Abbas will attend the NAM summit in Tehran later this week”. Al-Maliki will arrive in the Iranian capital tomorrow.

The PA president had also earlier informed the media of his visit to Iran. But, after he confirmed his participation in the NAM summit in Tehran, the western media alleged that Iran has also invited Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to the summit meeting.

The western media claimed that Tehran’s invitation to Haniyeh has jeopardized Abbas’s presence in the Tehran summit. But an Iranian government official announced earlier today that the country has not sent any formal invitation to Haniyeh to attend the NAM meeting.

“Only (Palestinian President) Mr. Mahmoud Abbas has been invited to attend the NAM summit and no official invitation has been sent to Mr. Ismail Haniyeh,” Mohammad Reza Forqani, Spokesman of the Headquarters in charge of arranging the 16th NAM Summit, told FNA on Sunday.

The Palestinian envoy to the UN also confirmed Forqani’s remarks, saying, “Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is the only one who has been invited by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s officials to the summit and he will take part.”

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

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