Jerusalem: Fearing an attempt by Iran to influence the opinion of world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, scheduled to attend a NAM summit meeting in Tehran next week, Israel has warned them not to fall in the Islamic Republic`s propaganda "trap".
"We expect all those who decide to go there to be aware of such manipulation and to take care not to fall into the trap," Israel`s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, said.
Israel, which has been threatening with military attack to foil Tehran`s nuclear ambitions, earlier this month also blocked the entry of ministers from some NAM countries from attending a meeting of one of its committees in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
The Non-Aligned Movement has 119 state members, as well as the Palestinian Authority.
India`s representative for the meeting, Sanjay Singh, Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs, returned from Amman while on the way to Ramallah to attend the meeting after representatives of five countries which did not have diplomatic relations with Israel were denied entry to enter the Palestinian Authority (PA) ruled township.
"This conference will doubtless be exploited by the Iranian regime for propaganda purposes and will try to create the impression of legitimacy for its policies," Palmor said in his appeal to leaders attending the summit.
Defying a vociferous campaign by Israel and close ally United States to persuade UN chief Ban Ki-moon from attending the NAM summit, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky on Wednesday confirmed that the world body`s chief would indeed attend the August 30-31 gathering.
Diplomats said he would also have a private meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Israel`s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ban earlier this month that he would be making "a big mistake" if he attended the summit.
Israel has dubbed the Iranian nuclear programme an existential threat which it has vowed to stop using "all options on the table".
Iranian leaders’ public pronouncements to "wipe out Israel from the map" have only made the Jewish state`s resolve stronger to stop it from going nuclear.
However, Iran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
PTI
