Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in Tehran for NAM summit

Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Tehran to take part in the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in the Iranian capital.

Abbas, who heads a high-level delegation, was welcomed by the Iranian Justice Minister Morteza Bakhtiari.

This is the first visit of the Palestinian Authority Chief to Iran after the death of former Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat.

Abbas will attend the meeting of NAM heads of state which will open on Thursday with an inaugural speech by the Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

More than 100 countries are partaking in the NAM meeting which kicked off at the expert level in Tehran on Sunday.

At the opening ceremony of the NAM expert-level meeting on Sunday, Iran assumed the rotating presidency of the movement for three years. Egypt’s Ambassador to the United Nations Mootaz Khalil formally handed over the presidency to Iran.