AFP: Iranian Vice President Ali Saeedlu said Wednesday he delivered an invitation from Iran’s president to his Ecuadoran counterpart to visit Tehran for the Non-Aligned Movement summit in August. 
QUITO (AFP) — Iranian Vice President Ali Saeedlu said Wednesday he delivered an invitation from Iran’s president to his Ecuadoran counterpart to visit Tehran for the Non-Aligned Movement summit in August.
Saeedlu, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s deputy for international affairs, told reporters after meeting with President Rafael Correa at the Carondelet presidential palace that the two also talked about increasing trade and technology exchanges.
The main purpose of the August 30-31 summit is for all countries “that are not aligned with the powerful nations to unite and present one solid and unanimous voice at an international level on how to obtain peace, and a more democratic and just world,” Saeedlu told reporters.
Correa, who supports Iran’s controversial nuclear program, has not confirmed his assistance at the Tehran summit but promised to study the invitation, Saeedlu said, according to remarks translated by Iranian ambassador Majid Salehi.
Ahmadinejad visited Ecuador January 12-13 during a visit that also took him to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, all nations governed by leftist presidents.
Saeedlu was in Ecuador on an unannounced visit following stops in Nicaragua, where he met President Daniel Ortega, and in Cuba, where he met Vice President Jose Ramon Machado.
The United States and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons in the guise of a peaceful enrichment program. Tehran denies the charge.
