2012 Tehran summit conference
The 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was held from 26 to 31 August 2012 in Tehran, Iran. The summit was attended by leaders of 120 countries, including 24 presidents, 3 kings, 8 prime ministers and 50 foreign ministers.
The summit's framework was the "Final Document" adopted during the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 7 to 10 May. The Foreign Ministry also said that the agenda would primarily consist of issues pertaining to nuclear disarmament, human rights and regional issues. Iran also intended to draw up a new peace resolution aiming to resolve the Syrian civil war.
The summit consisted of two preceding events: a "Senior Officials Meeting" on 26 and 27 August 2012, and a "Ministerial Meeting" on 28 and 29 August 2012. The leaders summit took place on 30 and 31 August. Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi officially handed the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during the inaugural ceremony of Leaders' Meeting. Iran will hold the NAM presidency for four years until the 17th summit in Venezuela in 2016.
Overview.
As of August 2012, the organisation consists of 120 member states, including the non-UN member state of Palestine, and 21 other observer countries. The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations' members and contain 55% of the world's population.
Since the Non-Aligned Movement was formed in an attempt not to take sides during the Cold War, it has sought to seek a new direction since the fall of the Soviet Union. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, a founding member, its membership was suspended in 1992 at the regular ministerial meeting held in New York during the regular annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Organization.
The summit was scheduled to be held at Kish Island but it was transferred to Tehran in 2010. According to Vice President Ali Saeedlou, who is the head of the organising committee, up to 7,000 participants – including delegations and the media – are expected to attend the summit. To prepare for the meeting and reduce traffic and air pollution, a five-day public holiday in Tehran has been called for the duration of the summit. Parts of Tehran have been beautified with lamp posts and freshly painted road markings. Roads around the summit venue will be closed to all but official vehicles. Iran's deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan stated "The police are on full alert during the Non-Aligned Movement summit." In addition, to raise security of the event, visa-free entry to Iran normally offered to nationals from several countries has been temporarily suspended.
The "Senior Officials Meeting" and "Ministerial Meeting" convened at the "IRIB International Conference Center" (IICC). The summit was held at "Tehran's Summit Conference Hall".
Participants.
A spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that 24 presidents, 3 kings, 8 vice presidents, 8 prime ministers, 50 foreign ministers attended at the summit. By the first day of the summit, 110 delegations arrived Tehran.
Ali Akbar Salehi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, announced that the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, would attend the conference. He also invited leaders of Russia, Turkey and Brazil to the summit. Mohamed Morsi, ex-president of NAM and the Egyptian President, also announced that he would participate in the summit. He was the first leader of his country to visit Iran since the Islamic revolution.
Iran reportedly cancelled an invitation to Saudi Arabia to attend the summit. However, it was later announced that Abdulaziz bin Abdullah, Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, would participate in the summit upon the invitation of Saudi Arabia.
Pre-summit responses.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad commented on the significance of the summit in Iran: "Certain NAM states too have upheld sanctions against Iran which is a totally unwise move because the sanctions are not on part of the UN, rather unilaterally levelled by the US The U.S. can issue any sort of sanctions it wants against Iran but there is no reason other countries to follow suit."
An Iranian government official also commented on the summit, reportedly saying that "the NAM summit is the best opportunity to confront the sanctions." He added that "in meetings with the officials of [fellow] member states, we should brief them on the illegality of these sanctions and talk to them to make these sanctions ineffective."
Agenda.
The base of the summit's negotiations' framework is the "Final Document" adopted during the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 7 to 10 May 2012.
The Foreign Ministry also said that the agenda would primarily consist of issues pertaining to nuclear disarmament, human rights and regional issues. Iran also intended to draw up a new peace resolution aiming to resolve the Syrian civil war.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi opened the first meeting and spoke of NAM's original goal: "We believe that the timetable for ultimate removal of nuclear weapons by 2025, which was proposed by NAM, will only be realised if we follow it up decisively." At the opening of the ministerial meeting Khamenei said: "The UN Security Council has an irrational, unjust and utterly undemocratic structure, and this is an overt dictatorship. The control room of the world (the Security Council) is under the control of the dictatorship of some Western countries." Al Jazeera interpreted Moon's reaction as "nonplussed."
Senior Officials Meeting.
The Senior Officials Meeting was held on 26 and 27 August 2012. The officials reviewed the Sharm el-Sheikh's document and issued a draft document which should be endorsed by the ministerial meetings. Iran's deputy foreign minister, Mohammad Mehdi Akhondzadeh, who is also secretary general of the senior officials meeting, read parts of the draft document at the press conference and mentioned some of the main points including rejection of all forms of terrorism, as well as all form of occupation including occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel, requesting weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapon disarmament, condemning unilateral sanctions and replacing unipolar management of international politics with collective management. According to Akhundzadeh, the draft urges for a Middle East free from nuclear weapons and emphasizes "inalienable" right of all NAM member states for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, envisaged by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Ministerial Meeting.
The Ministerial Meeting with presence of foreign ministers of NAM countries was held on 28 and 29 August 2012. Egypt's Deputy Foreign Minister, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, handed the presidency of the ministerial meeting for three years at the opening ceremony of the meeting. After opening remark of Ali Akbar Salehi and listening to the report of Senior Officials Meeting which was delivered by Mohammad Mehdi Akhondzadeh, the ministers starts to review the document. After preparation of the final document for the leaders' summit, Ali Akbar Salehi participated in a press conference and emphasized on the four main topics that were discussed at the meeting including establishment a task force in New York to pursue Palestine's membership in the United Nations and act against Israel's "illegal" measures against Palestinians, finding solution for Syrian crisis with United Nations cooperation, acting against monopolizing of the financial mechanisms in the world by using US dollar and finally establishment of a work group in New York to study the mechanisms of plural management of the world.
Leaders' Summit.
On 30 August, the summit was inaugurated by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Then the Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, as the chair of the 15th summit declared opening of the 16th summit and presented the report of NAM's chairmanship during the past three years. Morsi officially handed the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement to the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After Morsi, President of the Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Chair of the Group of 77 Mourad Benmehidi, host President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered their opening speeches. Khamenei later commented that "the Non-Aligned Movement definitely has more political right than the US, NATO or some European countries to intervene in the Syrian issue," but "did not elaborate on what kind of role the group should have".
Inaugurating the summit, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei condemned the use of nuclear and chemical weapons as an "unforgivable sin", and called for "Middle East Free from Nuclear Weapons". Khamenei argued that it was ironic for the US to oppose nuclear proliferation while, according to Khamenei, it possessed the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and had used them in the past. He also accused the US and its Western allies of providing "the usurper Zionist regime" with nuclear weapons. A day after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked Khamenei to lower his rhetoric on Israel, Khamanei accused "the Zionist regime" of "waging disastrous wars" and "organizing state terror" throughout the world, and said the media that it and the West own repeat the "lie" that the Palestinians are "terrorists." He criticized the UN Security Council as "unjust" and "undemocratic" and accused the US of abusing it. Other Iranian officials stated that the Security Council had more power than the General Assembly and criticized the veto rights of its permanent members. Khamenei accused the United States of protecting the interests of the Western countries in the name of "human rights", interfering militarily in other countries in the name of "democracy", and targeting civilians in the name of "combating terrorism." Khamenei also proposed improving the "political productivity" of the Non-Aligned Movement in global governance and called for a "historic document", an active secretariat, and administrative tools to achieve this. He also called for economic cooperation and for cultural relationships between NAM members.
Following Khamenei's remarks, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was described as visibly irritated, denounced Iran's position towards Israel in his opening speech. "I strongly reject threats by any member state to destroy another or outrageous attempts to deny historical facts, such as the Holocaust," he said. "Claiming that another UN Member State, Israel, does not have the right to exist, or describing it in racist terms, is not only utterly wrong but undermines the very principles we have all pledged to uphold." While describing Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency as "constructive and useful," Ban Ki-moon demanded that Iran boost global confidence in its nuclear program by "fully complying with the relevant (UN) Security Council resolutions and thoroughly cooperating with the IAEA." Ahmadinejad also declares a one minute of silence in honor of the late Iranian president and prime minister, Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar that were assassinated in same day in 1981.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi denounced the Syrian government, an ally of Iran, calling it "oppressive" and said that it was an "ethical duty" to support the Syrian revolt against the Bashar al-Assad government. Walid al-Moallem, Syrian foreign minister, walked out in protest, although Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remained seated beside Morsi. Morsi called for a peaceful transition to freedom and democracy in Syria. Like Iran, Morsi also called for reform in the structure of the UN Security Council. Morsi echoed Iranian calls for a nuclear-free Middle East, and criticized Israel for refusing to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Morsi and Iran also both supported the Palestinian bid for a seat at the UN. At the summit Egypt's Mohammed Morsi also handed over the leadership of the body to Iran for the next three years.
Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Syria and pledged support for the Palestinian movement. He also called for reform in the UN Security Council, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The summit also drew up a draft resolution on ending the Syrian conflict.
The summit's final declaration ratified on 31 August by the 120 members of NAM, emphasizes on the right of all countries to develop and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and notably singles out Iran. In addition, it condemns unilateral sanctions, supports creation of a Palestinian state, advocates nuclear disarmament, human rights free from political agendas and opposition to racism and "Islamophobia". But due to lack of consensus among member states it did not mention to Syria's civil war.
At the end of the summit, Venezuela was declared as the host of the 17th summit with the consensus of the member states.
Bilateral meetings.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are likely to meet