Leaders and officials from several countries arrived in Tehran on Wednesday, on the eve of two-day summit of the Non Aligned Movement countries.
Leaders and officials from several countries arrived in Tehran on Wednesday, on the eve of two-day summit of the Non Aligned Movement countries.
In addition to dozens of officials, nearly a dozen of the 36 heads of state or government Iran says are confirmed to attend the Thursday-Friday event have arrived, according to state media.
UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon had arrived on Wednesday in order to attend the summit. Egyptian President Mohamad Mursi is also to attend the meeting on Thursday. He will hand over the rotating NAM presidency to Iran.
Mursi’s Morsi's appearance will be the first by an Egyptian president since Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979 -- the year that Cairo signed a peace accord with the Zionist entity.
The huge turnout of attendance in the summit is considered as a blow for the US and the Zionist entity, who warned Ban and other world Leaders not to fall into an Iranian “propaganda trap”, advising them not to participate in the meeting.
Leaders already reported to have arrived in Tehran include Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmud Abbas, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi, Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Others are Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj, Swazi Prime Minister Barnabus Sibusiso Dlamini and Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi.
North Korea's ceremonial head of state, parliamentary leader Kim Yong-Nam, was also in the Iranian capital, representing his country's top leader Kim Jong-Un.
Others that Iran says are confirmed to yet show up for the summit include Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
