Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has attended the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran. He spoke up for global nuclear disarmament and condemned the UN Security Council for being old, unjust and irrational, Trend reports.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi passed on the chairmanship of the organization to his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chairmanship of the organization lasts 3 years.
The Egyptian president made the first visit of an Egyptian leader to Iran since 1979.
Morsi blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the conflict in Syria. The conflict in Syria has been ongoing since March 2011, despite the peace plan of UN special envoy Kofi Annan, implemented in mid-April. The UN says that about 20,000 people have died, 230,000 have become refugees and about a million need humanitarian aid.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallim.
Tehran opened the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on Sunday. Three days of the summit were used for discussions of foreign ministers and experts.
The Non-Aligned Movement was formed by 25 states at the Belgrade Conference in September 1961. It has about 120 members today. The main principle is avoidance of military blocs, such as NATO. About 55% of the world's population live in states of the Non-Aligned Movement. Two thirds of UN members are part of the movement.
The US, Israel and a set of other Western states accuse Iran of developing nuclear arms against the background of the peaceful atom. Tehran denies all the accusations and insists that its nuclear program is intended to fulfil demands for electricity.
Four resolutions of the UN Security Council have been passed against Iran. The US passed additional sanctions in mid-February.
