Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili underscored that independent states can grow more powerful and become a global pole through the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
"The free and independent countries can turn into a pole in the world through solidarity and unity within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement," Jalili said at a meeting with Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of NAM here in Tehran on Wednesday.
He cautioned against the plots hatched by the enemies to undermine the Islamic and independent states' ability to use the existing opportunities for their progress, and stated, "NAM member states should be vigilant against divisive plots and enemies' efforts to spark sectarian and ethnic conflicts and should integrate their high capacities for breaking the front of imperialism."
The Algerian minister, for his part, described aliens' meddling in the Islamic states as the main impediment to the progress of the people and materialization of their rights, and called for stronger unity among Islamic states.
NAM was founded in Belgrade in 1961 by Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesian president Sukarno, all legends of the national liberation movement, with solid anti-imperial credentials, who advocated a middle course for the developing world between the Western and Eastern blocs in the Cold War.
Its principles are solidarity and peaceful resolution of conflicts, though it was founded as a counterweight to the superpowers, abjuring big power military alliances and pacts.
The movement is publicly committed to sustainable development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, making international financial decision-making more democratic, easing poor countries' debt burden, making trade fairer and increasing foreign aid.
By hosting the conference and taking on the responsibility for NAM leadership, Iran is clearly intent on injecting new life into the most important anti-imperialist international organization.
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