UN chief in Tehran for NAM summit

UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tehran on Wednesday on the eve of a two-day summit of Non-Aligned Movement states, the Iranian government media service and state media said. Ban was to see Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and other officials later Wednesday, according to state media. On Thursday and Friday, he was to attend the NAM summit as an observer, at Ahmadinejad’s invitation. His presence has been criticised by the United States and Israel, which are locked in a showdown with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme. The summit is to gather leaders and senior officials from 120 states which account for nearly two-thirds of the UN member countries. A spokesman for Ban said on Tuesday that the UN secretary general would press Iran’s leaders over “urgent” issues troubling the international community, particularly the Islamic republic’s nuclear activities and human rights record.