DUSHANBE, August 30, 2012, Asia-Plus — The 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit opened in Tehran on Thursday under the theme of “Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance.”
More than 100 countries are reportedly partaking in the NAM summit in Tehran. According to some media sources, the summit participants include 24 heads of state, three kings, 80 heads of government and foreign ministry, senior representatives of international organizations, including the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tehran on Wednesday, August 29. Both the United States and Israel have called on the UN chief to stay away from the event. The UN said Ban would use the opportunity to convey the clear concerns and expectations of the international community about Iran”s nuclear program, terrorism, human rights, and the crisis in Syria.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon is also attending the Nonaligned summit in Tehran that kicked off with an inaugural speech by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
According to international media sources, Iran”s Supreme Leader said that “The Islamic republic is not after nuclear weapons” and will never slacken off its right to the “peaceful” use of nuclear energy. Khamenei said that Iran”s slogan is “Nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none.”
The summit consists of two preceding events: a “Senior Officials Meeting” and a “Ministerial Meeting.” The leaders’ summit is taking place on August 30 and 31. In this summit, Egypt will hand over the NAM”s rotating chairmanship to Iran.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement had 120 members and 21 observer countries.
The organization was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely the brainchild of Yugoslavia”s president, Josip Broz Tito, India”s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Egypt”s second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana”s first president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesia”s first president, Sukarno. All five leaders were prominent advocates of a middle course for states in the Developing World between the Western and Eastern blocs in the Cold War. The phrase itself was first used to represent the doctrine by Indian diplomat and statesman V.K. Krishna Menon in 1953, at the United Nations.
