Taking place in the capital, Tehran, and under the chairmanship of Iran, the NAM Summit will be held on 26-31 August, and is expected to draw representatives from its 120 members, as well as from various associated observer countries.

Over recent days, there have been media reports of calls, from Israel and the US, for Ban to boycott the meeting.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Ban to cancel his plans to take part in the Tehran summit, according to Israeli media.

Washington made clear last week that it also wants the UN chief to boycott the event, and on Wednesday the US State Department reiterated its misgivings, according to Reuters. 

Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said that the UN chief takes “seriously” his responsibility and that of the United Nations to pursue diplomatic engagement with all of the world body’s Member States, in the interest of peacefully addressing vital matters of peace and security.

“With respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Secretary-General will use the opportunity to convey the clear concerns and expectations of the international community on the issues for which cooperation and progress are urgent for both regional stability and the welfare of the Iranian people,” the spokesperson said.

“These include Iran’s nuclear programme, terrorism, human rights and the crisis in Syria.”

Over the past weekend, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said the Secretary-General was “dismayed” by recent remarks threatening Israel’s existence – attributed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – and condemned the comments, which he described as “offensive and inflammatory.”

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western powers and their allies fear it is aimed at developing atomic weapons. Iran has been hit with four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for refusing to halt its nuclear enrichment program.

The embargo has provoked anger in Tehran which says it will hurt negotiations with world powers over its disputed nuclear activities.

Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said on Saturday evening that Iran’s oil has its own markets and the country is fully ready to confront the West’s sanctions on the oil industry, according to IRNA news agency.

Qasemi emphasized that sanctions and pressures will have no effect on Iran’s will towards development and progress.

He added that Iran’s oil exports to Europe stood at 18 percent before the EU oil embargo, adding the figure is too little compared to the amount exported to other countries across the globe.

Iranian leaders have insisted they will move ahead with their atomic programme, regardless of the Western restrictions and others imposed by the UN Security Council.

Non-EU nations wanting to buy Iranian oil face an obstacle in insuring the tanker shipments, as more than 90 percent of such insurance is by EU companies now barred from underwriting Iran oil delivery contracts, according to AP.  China which refuses to go by with sanctions against Iran has increased its imports of Iranian crude, gets around by having its companies insure the tankers.

Iran has threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the oil-rich Gulf if its nuclear programme is targeted by air strikes that Israel and the United States reserve as an option.

Iran has repeatedly denies charges of developing an atomic programme for non peaceful mean.

Iran is the second largest producer in OPEC and earns some 80 percent of its foreign revenue from exporting crude. Other U.S. and EU sanctions have already hit Iran’s economy hard.

The strategic Hormuz bypass pipeline allows the UAE to pump oil and helps end the OPEC producer’s total dependence on the vital Gulf Ship route which Iran has threatened to block as western sanctions on its oil exports tighten. A European Union ban on Iranian crude imports is due to come into effect on July 1.

Escalating tensions in the Gulf region over the last year have prompted the UAE to speed up work on the long-delayed pipeline while other Gulf OPEC producers Kuwait and Qatar will continue to rely on shipping through the Strait to export fuel, according to Arabian Gazette.

Almost 17 million barrels of oil were shipped between the northern tip of Oman and the southern coast of Iran in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The 480-km pipeline with a capacity of up to 1.5 million barrels per day runs through the mountainous emirate and will reroute bulk of the country’s oil exports around the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, the waterway for a fifth of the world’s oil supply, according to Reuters.  The UAE’s total oil exports are 2.4 million bpd.