UN Chief Cites Syria Main Topic of Talks with Iranian Leaders

(FNA)- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the crisis in Syria and regional issues are the main topic of his upcoming talks with senior Iranian officials in Tehran.

Speaking to reporters upon arrival at Tehran's International Mehrabad Airport, the UN chief noted Iran's key role in the settlement of the Syrian crisis, and said, "During my visit to Tehran, I plan to meet with senior Iranian officials, including the country's leaders, in this regard."

"Iran can play a crucially important role in the resolution of the regional conflicts," said the UN secretary-general, who arrived in Tehran a few hours ago to attend a summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

He further appreciated Iranians' hospitality, and said, "I have very good memories of Iran and I hope to have constructive negotiations with senior Iranian officials."

He also expressed the hope that he could get more familiar with Iran's culture and history during the present visit to the country.

Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tehran to attend the 16th NAM heads-of-state summit and confer with Iranian officials on different regional and international developments.

The UN chief left New York on Tuesday and arrived in the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said that the secretary-general will hold talks with Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a number of Iranian lawmakers during his visit to Iran.

Earlier this month, Ban's spokesperson announced in a statement that the UN Secretary General would attend the NAM summit.

"The Secretary-General will visit Tehran from 29 to 31 August to participate in the 16th Summit of the NAM. The secretary-general looks forward to the Summit as an opportunity to work with the participating Heads of State and Government, including the host country, towards solutions on issues that are central to the global agenda, including follow-up to the Rio+20 Conference on sustainable development, disarmament, conflict prevention, and support for countries in transition," the statement said.

The 16th NAM heads-of-state summit will be held in the Iranian capital, Tehran, this Thursday and Friday.

A meeting of the NAM foreign ministers is currently underway in the Iranian capital.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is due to come to the Iranian parliament after Iranian parliamentarians criticized the UN chief for his biased attitude towards human rights issues in Muslim states and said they want to question him about his performance.
Ban Ki-moon will attend a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani at the premises of the parliament in Tehran on Wednesday.

Ban's visit to the Iranian parliament comes against a backdrop of the Iranian legislature's harsh criticism of the performance of the UN chief in a large number of areas, including his decisions and actions in dealing with human rights issues.

Iranian parliamentarians said on Saturday that they want to meet Ban Ki-moon to ask him about his biased attitude towards certain global issues and developments, including human rights issues.

Speaking to FNA, member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmayeel Kosari expressed the hope that Ban Ki-moon would accept the invitation of the parliament's Human Rights Committee and join the committee members in a meeting on the sidelines of the upcoming conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran, adding that the meeting would be in the interest of both sides.

As regards the topic of the discussions, Kosari said, "We believe that Mr. Ban Ki-moon does not have a fair attitude towards international developments and his decisions are essentially biased. Therefore, we are willing to hear Mr. Secretary-General's explanations in this regard."

Chairman of the parliament's Human Rights Committee Hadi Shoushtari had also told FNA on Saturday that the Iranian legislature planned to invite Ban Ki-moon to take part in the meeting.

"We ask Ban Ki-moon to respond to a number of questions of the Iranian parliamentarians at a meeting with the Islamic Consultative Assembly's (parliament's) Human Rights Committee," Shoushtari told FNA.

Shoshtari said that the members of the Human Rights Commission are serious about the meeting with the UN chief as they have many shortcomings with regard to his behavior.

The UN secretary-general will attend the 16th heads-of-state conference of NAM in Tehran on Thursday and Friday despite the attempts made by the US and Israel to prevent his presence in the international event.