A Jan. 15, 2011, file photo shows Iran's heavy water nuclear facilities near the central city of Arak. The negotiating stance from Iranian officials never varies: The Islamic Republic will not give up its capabilities to make nuclear fuel.
AP Photo

"Why West Should Curb Hostility To Non-Aligned Summit in Tehran"

Op-Ed, Al-Monitor

August 20, 2012

Authors: Abbas Maleki, Associate, International Security Program, Kaveh L. Afrasiabi

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security

SUMMARY

The Non-Aligned Movement summit August 26–31 will be a diplomatic coup for Iran, write Abbas Maleki and Kaveh Afrasiabi, bolstering its international clout and "inalienable right" to enrich uranium. Though many governments have reacted negatively to the Tehran summit, the authors call for a more nuanced Western approach.

The approaching 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran at the end of August is shaping up as a diplomatic coup for Iran, by virtue of the planned participation of dozens of world leaders and the summit's transfer of NAM's presidency from Egypt to Iran for the next three years.

This will likely enhance Iran's capability to bolster its international solidarity and, above all, to defend its "inalienable nuclear rights" — the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, which has been consistently supported at previous NAM summits as well as by the NAM representatives at the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA)....

Continue reading: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/the-coming-non-aligned-summit-in.html

For more information about this publication please contact the Belfer Center Communications Office at 617-495-9858.

Full text of this publication is available at:
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/the-coming-non-aligned
-summit-in.html

For Academic Citation: