Iran invites Chavez to NAM summit
Press TV- Iran has extended an invitation to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to take part in an upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran.
Iran's Vice President for International Affairs Ali Saeedlou met Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro and submitted the invitation to him in Caracas on Sunday.
During the meeting, Saeedlou expressed hope that President Hugo Chavez would regain his health and attend the summit in Tehran.
The Venezuelan president has undergone three operations over the past year for the removal of cancerous tumors in his body. He has been forced to use a wheelchair due to severe pain caused by a fracture in his femur and his spreading cancer.
Maduro, for his part, underlined the importance of the NAM summit, saying Iran and Venezuela’s presidency over the NAM for six consecutive years is a good opportunity for taking significant measures against the imperialism domineering bids.
The 16th NAM summit will be held on August 26-31 in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
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 non-aligned countries.”