Tehran is hosting this year's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference August 26-31, 2012;[1] the conferees are slated to include U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,[2] who is set to meet with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with top officials of the participating countries. These officials include Saudi King Abdallah's son Abd Al-Aziz bin Abdallah, as well as the emirs of Qatar and Kuwait; the king of Oman; the presidents of Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Palestinian Authority; the prime minister of India; and the speaker of the Libyan parliament.
Tehran is attempting to use the conference as a show of political and diplomatic strength against the West, on two main levels: political-diplomatic and economic. On the political-diplomatic level, Iran is demonstrating that it is not isolated in the international arena despite the efforts of the West to make it so, while on the economic level it is demonstrating its ability to bypass the harsh economic sanctions against it by, according to Iranian officials, signing contracts totaling some $60 billion.[3]
With regard to the ideological aspect, at the conference Tehran will emphasize the "New World Order" as a replacement for the West's hegemony and liberal-democratic system. It will urge the conferees to accept its agenda at the conference, focusing primarily on the crisis in Syria and on Israel as the source of all problems in the Middle East and in the world. Reflecting this direction, the Iranian daily Kayhan, which is close to Supreme Leader Khamenei, defined the NAM conference in Tehran as "a ringing slap not only to Israel's face, but also to the face of the U.S. and the entire 5+1."[4]
The following are the main points of an August 23, 2012 Kayhan editorial titled "Prelude to the Establishment of the New International Order," that was published in advance of the conference:
The Americans Are Right To Be "Very Concerned" About The NAM Conference In Tehran
"Under the conditions of the awakening against the Western dominance of an extensive part of the territory of the NAM [countries], the NAM is drawing closer to its origins... Under the conditions of the undermining and reduction of the West's economic and political supremacy in the [current] world order, particularly in the territory of the NAM [countries], the NAM – and especially its strong countries, such as Iran, India, and Egypt – now have an important opportunity to review [the movement's] primary aims, and to redefine the movement's approach, so as to adapt to these new conditions. In this way, they will establish an important bloc of strong [countries] – or, in other words, the largest international power bloc, because two-thirds of the world's countries are NAM members.
"It is precisely for this reason that the holding of the 16th [NAM] conference in Tehran is especially important. This is because while Iran is the standard-bearer and the focal point of the Islamic awakening on the international level, on the economic and political level it has always been [i.e. since the 1979 Islamic Revolution] and remains the West's most important challenger.
"For this reason, the Americans are [right to be] very concerned about the convening of the NAM conference in Tehran, and have taken a resolute stand against it. The Americans know that the process of change proves the justice of the Iranian position vis-à-vis the U.S., and they also know that if this trend continues, the number of countries severing relations with them and coming out against them will grow daily. By the same token, the number of pro-Iran countries, and of the countries siding with Iran, will also grow daily. In practical terms, this is the most natural thing that could happen, and the presence in Tehran of nearly 150 countries and delegations can demonstrate such an event and such a change in world public opinion..."
"The NAM Conference In Tehran May Be Essentially The Last Volley Against The Liberal-Democratic System"
"The NAM conference in Tehran may be essentially the last volley against the liberal-democratic system, and may pave the way for the ignition of a new process in the international arena. It will also yield new economic contracts between Iran and several of the strong NAM members – meaning that the neutralization of the West's boycott against Iran will be one of the conference's main accomplishments. The freezing of the sanctions on Iran can raise a question mark, and challenge the raison d'être of forums such as the U.N. Security Council...
"During the conference, Iran has an opportunity to make the delegations aware of Iran's progress in the areas of science, economics, technology, the military, politics, and culture... The diplomatic delegations' awareness of Iran's great progress will bolster the [NAM] countries' desire to disconnect from the unilateral international system and to establish an independent bloc – and this poses the greatest danger for the West..."[5]
Endnotes:
[1] The regime launched a conference website in Persian, English, Arabic and Urdu, namna.ir.
[2] The Jomhouri-e Eslami daily, which is close to Iranian Expediency Council chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani, stated that the U.N. has never had a secretary-general as disastrous and damaging as Ban Ki-moon. The paper emphasized that Ban Ki-moon had condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declaration – i.e. that Israel is a cancerous growth – although this statement had been made three decades ago by the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, while turning a blind eye to Israel's threats against Iran, its occupation of Palestine, and its massacres of Palestinians. Jomhouri-e Eslami (Iran), August 22, 2012.
[3] Majlis National Security Committee member Avaz Heidar-Pour said, "So far, close to $60 billion has been allocated for economic contracts that are to be signed with Iran during the conference by the presidents and ministers of the countries that participated in the conference." Javan (Iran)s, August 22, 2012.
[4] Kayhan (Iran), August 27, 2012.
[5] Kayhan (Iran), August 23, 2012.
