ADL Urges Ban Ki-moon to Shun Tehran Conference

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The Anti-Defamation League has urged U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to refuse to speak at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Iran due to the Islamic Republic’s “extreme and dangerous policies.”

The Iranian government invited Ban to address the gathering, which is being held in Tehran beginning on Aug. 26. But the Secretary General’s office refused to confirm or deny that he accepted the invitation.

Iran is assuming the presidency of the 120-member NAM for the next three years.

The ADL said in a letter to the Secretary General: “Your presence in the Iranian capital at this time will be counterproductive to the efforts of the international community to bring Iran into compliance with its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.”

And Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said: “The Secretary General should publicly commit that he will not go to Tehran to address the NAM conference.

“We strongly believe that such a visit will be a grave mistake, and serve to legitimize and bolster the Iranian regime and its extreme and dangerous policies. At a time when responsible members of the international community are working together to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program by increasing its isolation, we would expect the Secretary General to express support for that effort by announcing he will not be traveling to Tehran. His apparent hesitation to make such an announcement is inexplicable.”

The ADL noted in an Aug. 14 statement that Iran has refused to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect military installations, championed “the violently repressive Syrian regime,” and its leaders have “spouted vile anti-Semitic rhetoric from U.N. podiums.”

CNS News reported on Aug. 10 that Iran’s vice president for international affairs, Ali Saeedlou, told the semi-official Fars news agency that Ban would be participating at the conference.

He also said the West and the “Zionist regime” were trying to prevent a “magnificent” summit to thwart the promotion of Iran’s “justice-seeking” views.

The state-run IRNA news agency also reported that Ban was “expected to take part.”

Asked if this was true, Ban’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, said: “We are obviously aware of those reports. I cannot confirm them, and I’m not going to comment on them, OK?”

In June, when the U.N. co-sponsored an event with Iran to mark the U.N.’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, another Iranian vice-president, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, accused Jews of driving global drug trafficking and various other conspiracies, including the killing of black babies.

As recently as Wednesday, Iran once again threatened Israel with destruction. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he was confident “the fake Zionist [regime] will disappear from the landscape of geography.”

The NAM comprises most of the world’s developing nations, including regimes hostile to the U.S. like Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.

Iran succeeds Egypt as the chair, and Egypt’s two predecessors were Cuba and Malaysia. After Iran, Venezuela is set to assume the leadership in 2015.