TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran would host a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) starting Thursday, with an aim to bolster its influence in the Middle East and win support from NAM members over the Syria crisis and its nuclear issue.
Drained by bouts of sanctions over its nuclear program, Tehran is eager to expand its international influence and squeeze some breathing room out of the current stalemate. The upcoming summit is a hard-won opportunity, analysts here say.
An option is to sketch out a peace plan at the summit to help end the 17-month-long Syria crisis and drum up support for the Syrian administration, as a close alliance with Damascus matters a lot to Tehran.
Being two eyesores of the United States in the Middle East, Iran and Syria have built tight ties as close as lips and teeth.
Flanked by the Syrian government, Iran aims to counter-balance some of the pressures imposed by Western countries over its nuclear program and expand its political clout in the region.
Washington would be spared more time to churn out further rounds of sanctions against Iran, should the Syrian government be toppled.
Therefore, Iran has to make every effort to help resolve the Syria crisis and keep the Syrian government in power. Over past months, Iran has expressed in different occasions the willingness to mediate between the Syrian government and the opposition, in the hope of putting an end to the crisis.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran would lay out a "comprehensive" proposal to resolve the Syria crisis and it would be discussed on the sidelines of the 16th NAM meeting.
Analysts also say that Iran has got a mild boost in its see-saw battle with Washington in hosting the summit, as the move in itself constitutes a setback for the United States, which has accused Tehran of taking advantage of this summit to push through its own agenda.
To Washington's chagrin, many bigwigs, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, have decided to attend the summit, which also would bring together representatives from more than 100 countries and regions.
But analysts believe Iran still faces formidable task to prop up the Syria government in an effort to relieve itself of the outside pressure.
Given the current intricate situation, attendees of the summit, all having their own calculations, would not easily buy the peace plan presented by Iran.
In order to prevent Syrian government from falling and itself from being further isolated, it is expected that Iran will roll out one measure after another to try to settle the Syria crisis so as to dampen the pressure imposed by the West.
TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The forthcoming 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran serves a "good opportunity" for Iran to present its proposal on the Syrian issue, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Xinhua in an interview Monday.
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TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said that the Islamic republic is ready to expand bilateral relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in all arenas, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday.Full Story
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