Analyst: High NAM presence, diplomatic triumph for Iran

A political analyst says the wide presence of high-level representatives at the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit being held in Iran is a diplomatic triumph for the Islamic republic.More than 100 representatives of NAM member states have attended the conference.According to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, the participation of at least 27 presidents, two kings, seven prime ministers and two Parliament speakers has been confirmed so far.NAM is an international organization with 120 member states that is not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. Nearly two-thirds of the United Nations member states are also NAM members.An interviewed editor of al-Akhbar Weekly Omar Nashabi to discuss the conference.Q:  Mr. Nashabi, in our world today, do you think that NAM can be a force to be reckoned with?Nashabi: Yes, I agree with my colleague from Chicago.Q: what would it take to get to that point then?Nashabi: Yes, I think that it already has taken a big step forward by this heavy attendance. This is a remarkable attendance. I just want to point out that an Israeli newspaper called Maariv published on Thursday an article saying that the Israeli foreign ministry had asked all the Israeli ambassadors in all the countries that are members of NAM to actually encourage the countries not to participate or to participate at low levels.So this is already a triumph, a diplomatic triumph for the Islamic Republic of Iran that this conference is being held on such a high level of representation from member states. So this gives an opportunity for this conference to come up with something concrete and I think the speech by Iranian Foreign Minister [Ali Akbar Salehi] was a brilliant speech. I’m not giving complements, I’m just saying that it was a brilliant speech because it calls for dialogue, and that’s what we need in these parts of the world.Especially because most media are saying that on the agenda there is the issue of Syria. I think in Syria, after such a bloody phase in Syrian history. For more than a year, people are dying in Syria, people are suffering in Syria, there is a problem. This problem needs to be resolved. I think that Iran is capable of finding a solution, especially in such a conference with international cooperation and this is the way forward.I think this is good for the whole region because it comes at a time when there is an increase in threats by the Israelis and by the Americans against Iran. I think to counter these threats with calls for dialogue is diplomatic triumph and no doubt it is good for the region.Q:  Now, the US has been launching drone attacks in several sovereign countries, despite international condemnation even from the UN, but this has not stopped the unsanctioned deadly attacks. Has the time come for an overall reform of the UN structure to make up for its shortcomings in do you think that NAM can actually play a role in this?Nashabi: I think they can play a role, but I also agree with your other guests, that you know in the past it [NAM] hasn’t really proven to come out with really something concrete. So, let’s see. I agree with your guest from Chicago again on the fact that is such a high-level representation. Especially, I want to pinpoint the presence of the Egyptian president [Mohamed Morsi].For the first time, there is an Egyptian president since the Islamic revolution in Iran, an Egyptian president is coming to Tehran. That’s I think more important, to me, as an Arab living in this part of the world. It’s more important than the actual conference itself.It’s an opportunity for rapprochement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Egypt and that rapprochement is of paramount importance in the region. You see, the focus should always be on Israel and the impact Israel has on the US and the UN and on the world. And I think such a rapprochement between Egypt and Iran is really something that will actually capture, if one wants to actually understand, if there is an opportunity for this conference, one should focus on that. And the meetings that take place inside the conference and the corridors of that conference.Q:  You had pointed out earlier that the Israelis are trying to pressure the members of NAM and the countries not to send high representation or not to send any. Of course they haven’t been successful. Why do you think we’re seeing from the Americans also and the Israelis this time around, this type of pressure? What do they think could possibly happen at this Tehran summit?Nashabi: Well, I think the Israelis are very clear on that. I think they want to bomb Iran. They want to go to war. They want to destroy Iran. And anything that would show that Iran has friends around the world, that Iran is capable of organizing a high-level conference and bringing people, if it’s NAM or any other conference or diplomatic move by the Iranians, Iran will be targeted by the Israelis and their American allies and their other allies around the world.I think this is pretty obvious, especially as I was saying that this conference comes, as one of the points of diplomatic triumph and an important point, is the fact that this conference comes at the timing when there’s increased threats by the Israelis.In the media, [we see] threats all over the place, people are saying, OK, how many Israelis are going to die, if they bomb Iran. That was published in Haaretz newspaper.In New York Times you have several articles on bombing Iran, destroying Iran, and now all of a sudden you have 118 countries sending high-level representatives to Tehran to attend a conference. So that already puts international pressure not to bomb Iran, because even if the Americans and the Israelis do not want to bomb Iran, the fact that they can threaten any country by saying we will bomb you because you are trying to develop nuclear energy even for peaceful means or whatever, we can create a story in the media and say you’re creating a nuclear bomb and you want to create a new Holocaust and then we can create the motives to bomb you.That’s how the control of the international media also comes in. I think it should be mentioned here that this conference will receive very little attention on the part of international media, because that again is part of what the Maariv Israeli newspaper published on Thursday.That campaign against Tehran will continue even if there are 118 countries in Iran. The way forward is to create more... I hope that President Morsi will meet with [Iranian] President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad several times and they will come up with a joint declaration on a high-level, they will come up with a decision for more cooperation, for more exchange between Egypt as a large central country in this part of the world. It has an opportunity to play a diplomatic role that is separate from the American influence. /129