Iran's President Arrives In New York

New York, Sept 23, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, heading a high ranking delegation, arrived in New York Saturday evening (local time) to attend the 67th annual meeting of the UN General Assembly. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, Minister of Agricultural Jihad Sadeq Khalilian, Minister of Road and Urban Planning Ali Nikzad, Vice-President in Parliamentary Affairs Lotfollah Forouzandeh, Senior advisor to president Seyed Mojtaba Samare Hashemi, and Vice-President in Executive Affairs Hamid Baqaei are accompanying the president in his trip to New York. Head of Presidential Office Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Seyed Hassan Mousavi and Legal Advisor to President Gholamhossein Elham are among other members of the delegation. President is scheduled to meet with heads of states and senior officials of other countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly sessions. He will attend the inauguration ceremony and expound Iran's stances on the most important international issues. Reform in the UN structure, establishment of a contact group to remove regional conflicts and stopping violence are among issues the president will discuss with other heads of states during his trip. Ahmadinejad is to meet with the UN Secretary General on Sunday afternoon. Iran's president, as chairman of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), will also meet with a number of heads or senior officials of member states in New York. He will have interviews with a number of well-known media people and meet with Iranians residing in the United States. Ahmadinejad will also have meetings with a number of American university students and a group of religious leaders. He is to deliver his main speech in the UNGA meeting on Wednesday morning and then will attend a press conference./end