Iranian FM highlights 4 topics at NAM summit

TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi highlighted on Wednesday four main topics that were discussed at the ministerial meeting of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran.

The two-day ministerial meeting of the movement closed here on Wednesday and will be followed by the summit meeting on August 30-31.

On Wednesday, Salehi said at the press conference following the closing ceremony of the ministerial meeting that the Palestinian issue was the centerpiece of the meeting and it was agreed a task force on the issue to be formed in New York to counteract the " illegal" measures of Israel against the Palestinians and to study ways to obtain a Palestinian membership in the UN.

He said that the task force will consider the ways to promote unity among the Palestinian factions and the ways to improve the media coverage of the Palestinian cause.

Another issue that was considered by the ministerial meeting was the Syrian crisis, said Salehi, adding that the participants called on the governments to respond to their people's demands without foreign intervention.

Salehi added that the foreign ministers present in the meeting agreed that the NAM, with the help of other international organizations, especially the United Nations, will help solve the Syrian crisis in a way that the Syrian people will suffer less. ?

The third point that the Iranian foreign referred to was the ministers' disagreement with the monopolizing of the financial mechanisms in the world, which mainly rely on the US dollar.

Salehi added that the foreign ministers also drew on the theme of the summit, namely, "Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance", and that a work group was suggested to be formed in New York to study the mechanisms of plural management of the world.

Earlier in the day, Salehi, in the closing ceremony of the ministerial meeting of the NAM summit, expressed hope that, during the following three years of Iran's presidency, the organization could be promoted to a higher status in the global scene so that it would be able to promote its ideals and interests.

He stressed that the NAM has always been committed to the Palestinian issue and the member states have been unanimous in supporting the Palestinian cause.

More than 100 members of the NAM have indicated their willingness to take part in the upcoming summit.