Israel and US criticise Ban Ki-moon's visit to Iran
New York (AsiaNews/Agencies) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's decision to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Iran's capital drew criticism from the United States and Israel who hoped he would boycott the meeting.
The summit will be held in Tehran between 26 and 31 August. Ban will attend from 29 to 31 August. He "takes seriously his responsibility and that of the United Nations to pursue diplomatic engagement with all of its member states," the UN said Tuesday in a statement announcing his plans.
Ban will convey to Iran "the clear concerns and expectations of the international community" on issues including the country's nuclear programme, according to the statement, which many countries believe to include nuclear weapons.
Ban Ki-moon's decision is courageous. Only last week, Ayatollah Khamenei and later President Mahmud Ahmadinejad uttered threats against Israel's existence.
Khamenei said that Israel would one day be returned to the Palestinian nation and would cease to exist.
Ahmadinejad said there was no place for the Jewish state in a future Middle East, echoing previous remarks he has made about Israel.
The Iranian leader has repeatedly called into question the Nazi extermination of Jews during World War Two, known as the Holocaust.
Last week Ban sharply criticised Iran's leaders, describing their latest verbal attacks on Israel as "offensive and inflammatory". For this reason, some Iranian leaders did not expect him to come to Tehran.
For their part, the United States and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Ban not to take part in the summit, fearing "manipulations".
Tensions have been heightened because of discussions in Israel about a possible attack against Iranian nuclear installations.
Several UN diplomatic sources said that Ban "can't not go" to the meeting of some 120 non-aligned nations in Tehran.
The first conference of the Non-aligned movement was held in Belgrade in the early 1960s, bringing together most developing countries that wanted to remain neutral in the US-Soviet confrontation. However, eventually the organisation moved closer to the anti-US camp.
Iran is the organisation's current rotating chairman. Egypt is set to become the next.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will be the first Egyptian leader to travel to Tehran since the two countries broke diplomatic relations in 1980 after the Iranian revolution of 1979.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will also be present, whilst China will participate as an observer.
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30/08/2012
