United Nations announced on Wednesday that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be attending a summit with leaders of 120 non-aligned nations next week in Tehran, despite a strong call to boycott the meeting by the US and Israel.
Ban is expected to have “meaningful and fruitful discussions” revolving around human rights issues, nuclear program and the ongoing crisis in Syria with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and with top diplomats of the Iranian government.
US State Department’s spokesperson Victoria Nuland said
“Iran is going to manipulate this opportunity and the attendees to try to deflect attention from its own failings."
“We hope that those who have chosen to attend, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, will make very strong points to those Iranians that they meet about their international obligations.”
Last week President Muhmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters that there was no place for a Jewish state in the future in the Middle East and Ban was quick to criticise the comment as “offensive and inflammatory.”
Iran continues to serve four sanctions imposed by UN Security Council for its continual progress in nuclear enrichment.
