Iran's Policies Attacked by UN Head, Egyptian Leader

The US and Israel had discouraged high-profile speakers from attending a summit of developing nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, in Iran. “Iran has portrayed its hosting of the high-profile summit as proof that Western efforts to isolate it and punish it economically for its disputed nuclear programme have failed,” report Marcus George and Yeganeh Torbati for Reuters. Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi attended the summit and directly challenged Iranian policies: Ban denounced Iran for calling for Israel’s destruction and Holocaust denial; Morsi, the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution, urged countries to support Syrian rebel efforts to overthrow the Assad regime, which is supported by Iran. The West suspects Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency questions Iran’s increased pace of nuclear enrichment and possible nuclear explosive tests. Iran continues to deny IAEA inspectors access to sites in question. By sidestepping the West’s policy of isolation for Iran, Ban and Morsi let Iran know what others in the world think about its policies. – YaleGlobal