Iran denies reports Hamas leader invited to NAM summit

TEHRAN,Aug.27(MNA) – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Sunday dismissed news reports claiming that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had been invited to attend the XVI Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which opened in Tehran on Sunday and closes on Friday. A number of media outlets recently reported that Haniyeh had been invited to attend the NAM summit. The Jerusalem Post reported that the Palestinian Authority on Saturday expressed outrage over reports of Iran’s invitation to Haniyeh to represent the Palestinians at the summit, claiming that acting Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was considering canceling his participation in the Tehran conference in protest over the invitation. However, Mehmanparast said that only Abbas has been invited from Palestine and “no formal invitation letter has been sent to anyone else.” Special guests can only be invited to the summit after making the arrangements necessary with the NAM Coordinating Bureau that is based in New York, he added. In addition, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki announced on Sunday that Iran has not invited Haniyeh to attend the Tehran even.