{"id":9880,"date":"2012-08-22T21:42:51","date_gmt":"2012-08-23T01:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=9880"},"modified":"2012-08-22T21:42:51","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T01:42:51","slug":"non-aligned-movement-summit-in-teheran-shows-majority-of-the-world-does-support-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=9880","title":{"rendered":"Non -Aligned Movement Summit In Teheran Shows Majority of the World Does Support Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_9882\" style=\"width: 254px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/ISL82212.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9882\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/ISL82212.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"ISL82212\" width=\"244\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9882\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-9882\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">pic courtesy of: ISNA<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>By Ayesha Zuhair<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A<\/strong>midst the Western world\u2019s psychological warfare against Iran, 42 heads of state including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa have confirmed plans to participate in the forthcoming summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Iran\u2019s capital city, Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>News that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will attend the 16th NAM summit to be held from August 26-31 has jolted Israel and its closest ally, the United States as it is certain to boost Iran\u2019s international image.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that it would be a \u201chorrible mistake\u201d for Ban Ki Moon to visit Tehran while the Obama administration has described Tehran as a \u201cstrange and inappropriate place for this meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However the message and the tone of the message coming from Tel Aviv and Washington reinforce the importance of NAM even in today\u2019s unipolar world. As such it is apt that the meeting is being held in Tehran this year.<\/p>\n<p>The founding objective of NAM was to create a forum for Third World solidarity resisting colonialism, imperialism and hegemony of powerful countries and in the popular political narrative these are at the root of the onslaught on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>NAM is the second largest international organisation in the world after the United Nations. Its origins can be traced back to the Asia-Africa Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955 convened by the Prime Ministers of five  Asian powers: Myanmar (then Burma), Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), India, Indonesia and Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka has always played a vital role in the movement and in fact the idea to host an Afro-Asian conference in Bandung emerged at the \u2018Colombo Powers\u2019 Conference of 1954.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of non-alignment, as articulated by Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the Cairo summit in 1964, arose out of a determination to be free of involvement with power blocs.<br \/>\nMrs. Bandaranaike elaborated that non-alignment \u201cmerely means that each country that is non-aligned adopts independent judgements on foreign policy without being tied to ideas or ideologies of opposing military power blocs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also pointed out that, \u201cNon-aligned nations do not necessarily stand together on any given question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The organisation was eventually born during the height of the Cold War when the first summit of non-aligned nations was held in the former Yugoslavian capital, Belgrade in 1961. This was at a time when fears that the escalating nuclear arms race between the USA and USSR could result in a global war with devastating consequences, something that the world came very close to during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.<\/p>\n<p>The 2012 summit marks the beginning of Iran assuming the NAM\u2019s rotating presidency for a three year term from Egypt and it will be a definite set-back for Western efforts to isolate Iran and portray it as a \u201crogue state\u201d and \u201ca threat to world peace\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Abdolreza Mesri, Spokesman for Iran\u2019s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has described the upcoming summit as a promising \u201cturning point\u201d for the Islamic Republic and noted that, \u201cThe US and other hegemonic states had concerted all their efforts to prevent the conference from taking place in Tehran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Tehran prepares to hold the 16th NAM Summit, participating member states comprising of 55 per cent of the world\u2019s population are sending out a powerful message: that Iran continues to command global respect despite relentless Western efforts to weaken it, that it is impossible for bullying powers to subjugate it, that it is not as friendless as the West would wish.<\/p>\n<p>The importance of NAM however goes beyond Tehran 2012. In view of the structure of the international system which is dominated by the powerful West, one could argue that NAM\u2019s ideals have become even more relevant today than they were at the time it was founded.<\/p>\n<p>NAM provides an ideal platform for third world voices to be heard, and a force to counter-balance the West\u2019s domination of international affairs. It has the potential to restore the much-desired political, social and economic balance in the international system.<\/p>\n<p>The NAM, if institutionalised, can positively address major trouble spots in the world such as Palestine and Kashmir. As posited by Executive Editor of Iran Review Mahmoud Reza Golshanpazhooh, if Iran provides rational and suitable leadership, NAM can evolve into an efficient organisation once more with much clout at the international level.<\/p>\n<p>Respected American Professor Noam Chomsky, in an interview with AlterNet in October 2008, asserted that the \u201cmajority of the world supports Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>When leaders of the non-aligned world converge in Tehran to discuss matters of mutual interest, they are \u2013 without doubt \u2013 endorsing this view. The majority of the world does support Iran. <em>courtesy: Daily Mirror<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"tweetbutton9880\" class=\"tw_button\" style=\"float:right;margin-left:10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdbsjeyaraj.com%2Fdbsj%2F%3Fp%3D9880&amp;text=Non%20-Aligned%20Movement%20Summit%20In%20Teheran%20Shows%20Majority%20of%20the%20World%20Does%20Support%20Iran&amp;related=&amp;lang=en&amp;count=horizontal\" class=\"twitter-share-button\"  style=\"width:55px;height:22px;background:transparent url('https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-tweet-button\/tweetn.png') no-repeat  0 0;text-align:left;text-indent:-9999px;display:block;\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ayesha Zuhair Amidst the Western world\u2019s psychological warfare against Iran, 42 heads of state including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa have confirmed plans to participate in the forthcoming summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Iran\u2019s capital city, Tehran. News that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will attend the &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=9880\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Non -Aligned Movement Summit In Teheran Shows Majority of the World Does Support Iran&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9880"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9883,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9880\/revisions\/9883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}