NAM summit ends in Tehran

TEHRAN - The 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit concluded in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Friday after the adoption of the outcome documents.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the rotating chairman of the summit, read part of the final documents at the closing ceremony of the event, and said that the participants unanimously expressed their commitments to the principles and objectives of the NAM.

Participants called for "fundamental changes" in global governance and collective management of the world as the precondition of establishing peace, and all of them expressed the call for avoiding conflicts in the world, Ahmadinejad said.

"We agreed to ensure human rights and human dignity to develop love, affection and honesty," he said, adding that "We can solve the global challenges based on friendship."

The Iranian president said that, by approving the final documents of the summit, the member states sent "important political messages" for establishing peace and justice in the world.

In the final documents, solidarity with the Palestinians has been emphasized as well.

The NAM meeting in Tehran was held in three phases: preparatory senior officials meeting on August 26-27, ministerial level meeting on August 28-29, and the summit on August 30-31.

Representatives from over 100 countries gathered in the Iranian capital to discuss the new global challenges.

Venezuela was selected the host for the 17th NAM Summit in 2015, while two countries, namely Azerbaijan Republic and Fiji, were accepted as the new members of the organization.

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.