NAM summit to kick off in Tehran

(MNA) – The XVI Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opens at Tehran’s IRIB International Conference Center (IICC) on Sunday and closes on Friday.
The summit meetings will be held at three levels.
Expert meetings are scheduled to be held on Sunday and Monday, during which delegates from the 120-member organization will exchange views on the latest developments in the world, issues related to NAM, and various other issues.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will deliver the opening speech of the conference.
The NAM foreign ministerial meetings will convene at the IICC on Tuesday and Wednesday, and NAM leaders are scheduled to attend the summit at Tehran’s Summit Conference Hall on Thursday and Friday.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will deliver the opening speech of the summit of heads of state and government.
The NAM summit, which will bring together a number of prominent international figures, will mark a turning point in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran at a time when certain Western countries and the Zionist regime are making efforts to isolate Iran in the international arena.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Kim Yong-nam, the chairman of the Presidium of the North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly (parliament), Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisyan, Lebanese President Michel Sulaiman, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe are some of the most important international figures who will be attending the summit.

Bahraini FM to participate in NAM summit

Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa will also participate in the summit.
It will be the first visit by a Bahraini official to Iran since tension rose in relations between the two countries over the developments in the Arab country last year.
Manama recalled its ambassador from Iran on March 15, 2011 in protest over the fact that Tehran had vehemently condemned Bahrain’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.
Later in March 2011, Iran recalled its ambassador to Bahrain in a reciprocal move.
On August 12, 2012, the Bahraini government announced that it had sent its ambassador back to Tehran.
However, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stated on August 17 that Iran would not reinstate its ambassador to Bahrain as long as the crackdown continues.

Syrian deputy FM to participate in summit

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast held a news conference on Saturday, in which he stated that 27 presidents, seven prime ministers, nine vice presidents, 23 foreign ministers, two parliament speakers, and five envoys representing leaders of NAM member states will be attending the conference.
Mehmanparast also announced that Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and acting Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plan to attend the summit.