Foreign intervention unacceptable: Iran

TEHRAN - Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Sunday that the foreign intervention in the regional issues is "not acceptable".

Salehi made the remarks in the opening ceremony of the expert-level meeting of the 16th Non-aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran on Sunday.

Salehi said that the Palestinian issue, as the most important problem in the region, should be taken seriously during the ongoing NAM meeting and the "criminal measures of Israeli regime, as the biggest threat to the region" must be taken into consideration.

Iran persists on the return of the Palestinians to their "occupied" lands in order to be able to democratically decide on their own fate, he added.

The Iranian foreign minister called for the active role of the NAM in annihilation of the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

Israel also should be forced to respect the non-proliferation of WMDs, said Salehi.

Israel's refusal to sign Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a hurdle to the globalization of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, he added.

Drawing on Iran's nuclear program, he said that unilateral sanctions on the countries contradicts UN's charter and the NAM is opposed to such unilateral sanctions.

The Islamic republic is under the expansive Western sanction pressures over its controversial nuclear program.

The Iranian minister meanwhile stated that the United Nations is need of structural reforms.

The establishment of "more democratic" United Nations can be considered as an important step in the reforms in this international organization, he said.

In the meantime, Salehi said at the NAM opening ceremony that during the next years of Iran's presidency over the NAM, the Islamic republic is determined to strengthen unity among the member states of this organization.

Salehi said that Iran is resolved to turn the 120-member NAM into an efficient body.

Representatives from more than 100 countries have gathered in Tehran to discuss the new challenges that the world faces today, he added.

Founded in the former Yugoslavia in 1961, the NAM represents nearly two-thirds of the UN members and about 55 percent of the world population.

The NAM summit will be held in Tehran on August 26-31, while heads of state and government would meet on August 30-31.