President Ahmadinejad calls Egypt President-elect Morsi
News Code: 80215282 (0) Publish Date : 15/04/1391 -
09:11
http://www.irna.ir/News/Politic/President-Ahmadinejad-calls-Egypt-President-elect-Morsi/80215282

Tehran, July 5, IRNA - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called his
Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Mursi on Wednesday to invite him to attend a
summit of the Non-Aligned Movement scheduled to be held in Tehran on August
29.

Ahmadinejad wished the Muslim Brotherhood politician success in his call
with Mursi, the Egyptian state news agency reported, quoting Mursi’s
spokesman.

The 16th NAM summit will be held in Tehran from August 26-31. During the NAM
summit meeting, the Islamic Republic of Iran will receive the NAM rotating
chairmanship for the next three-year period.

Egypt hosted the NAM ministerial meeting from May 9-10, 2012.

The Non-Aligned Movement includes 118 member states representing the
interests and priorities of developing countries. Iran will receive the
rotating presidency of the movement from Egypt for three years during the
Tehran summit. Venezuela will host the 17th summit of the NAM in 2015.

NAM was founded in former Yugoslavia in 1961. The countries of the
Non-Aligned Movement represent nearly two-thirds of the UN members and
contain 55 percent of the world population.

NAM's purpose as stated in the Havana Declaration of 1979 is to ensure “the
national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of
the non-aligned countries.”

Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, Iranian officials have
worked with Egypt’s interim government to restore diplomatic ties. Shortly
after Mubarak stepped down from office, the Islamic Republic two of Iranian
warships were allowed to pass through the Suez Canal, the first such passage
by an Iranian naval vessel since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The
high-level visit of Iranian officials to Cairo in August 2011 suggests that
Iran and Egypt may be on a path to restore official ties.

On April 17, 2011, Egyptian foreign ministry spokeswoman Menha Bakhour
asserted, “We are prepared to take a different view of Iran. The former
regime used to see Iran as an enemy, but we don’t.”

On August 16, 2008, Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad defended
Iran’s right to a peaceful nuclear program.

On August 2, 2011, a delegation of Egyptian investors and businessmen met
with officials from Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines in an
effort to begin restoring bilateral trade relations between the two states.

On December 3, 2007, Iranian Minister of Industry and Mines Ali-Akbar
Mehrabian met in Cairo with Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry
Rachid Mohamed Rachid.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 1022382