U.N. chief defies U.S., Israel; plans trip to Iran
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Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:27 GMT .
Source: reuters // Reuters .
By Louis Charbonneau .
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UNITED NATIONS, Aug 22 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
will attend a summit meeting of leaders of non-aligned developing
nations in Iran next week, defying calls from the United States and
Israel to boycott the event, a U.N. spokesman said on Wednesday.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters that Ban will be in Tehran
Aug. 29-31 for a meeting of some 120 non-aligned nations, and for
bilateral talks with senior Iranian officials.
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"With respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Secretary-General
will use the opportunity to convey the clear concerns and expectations
of the international community," he said. "These include Iran's nuclear
program, terrorism, human rights and the crisis in Syria."
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Ban is "fully aware of the sensitivities" linked to his visit, but he is
also aware of his responsibilities as head of the United Nations,
Nesirky said.
He noted that non-aligned nations comprise two-thirds of all U.N. member
states.
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One of Ban's responsibilities is "to pursue diplomatic engagement with
all ... (U.N.) member states in the interest of peacefully addressing
vital matters of peace and security," Nesirky said.
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A U.N. Security Council diplomat said privately that it was important
for the secretary-general to go. He said Ban should not turn his back on
the entire non-aligned movement because one member, Iran, happens to
have a president who doubts the Holocaust and questions Israel's right
to exist.
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Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western powers and their
allies fear it is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
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Ban will raise this issue and Iranian leaders' anti-Israel remarks
during bilateral meetings with Iranian officials on the sidelines of the
non-aligned summit, envoys said.
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Iran has been hit with four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions
for refusing to halt its nuclear enrichment program.
The Tehran summit, which Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi also will
attend, takes place Sunday through Friday. Mursi is the first Egyptian
head of state to visit Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
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BAN CRITICIZES IRAN FOR ANTI-ISRAEL REMARKS
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Ban
to cancel his plans to participate in the Tehran summit, according to
Israeli media.
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The U.S. State Department made clear last week that Washington also
wants the U.N. chief to boycott the event.
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"The fact that the meeting is happening in a country that's in violation
of so many of its international obligations and posing a threat to
neighbors ... sends a very strange signal with regard to support for the
international order, rule of law, et cetera," State Department
spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
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"We've made that point to participating countries," she told reporters.
"We've also made that point to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon."
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Last week Ban sharply criticized Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, describing their latest
verbal attacks on Israel as "offensive and inflammatory."
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Ahmadinejad said there was no place for the Jewish state in a future
Middle East, echoing past remarks he has made about Israel. He has also
repeatedly called into question the Nazi extermination of Jews during
World War Two - the Holocaust.
Khamenei said last week that Israel would one day be returned to the
Palestinian nation and cease to exist.
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Earlier on Wednesday, the United Nations said Iran appears to be
supplying Syria with weapons, as the 17-month conflict that began as a
popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad slides deeper
into civil war.
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Separately, Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission in New
York, defended the Tehran summit in a letter to the editor in The
Washington Post. He was responding to an editorial in the newspaper that
said Ban's presence in Tehran "will dignify a bacchanal of nonsense."
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Miryousefi said the Post's editorial board "unjustifiably smeared Iran
and mocked the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran."
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