Iran did not invite Prime Minister of the Hamas authority in Gaza, Ismail Haneya, to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit slated for Aug. 30-31 in Iran's capital Tehran, a Palestinian National Authority (PNA) official said Sunday.

The remarks came a day after Haneya's spokesman said the Hamas premier had accepted an Iranian invitation to join the NAM summit.

Reyad al-Malki, the PNA minister of foreign affairs, said he had been in contact with the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the General Secretariat of NAM, and had received confirmation that Haneya was not invited.

Malki said the office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had assured him that the Palestinian invitation was limited to President Mahmoud Abbas. Malki is expected to travel to Iran to discuss the matter with NAM's coordinating council this evening.

The PNA and Islamic Hamas movement have been at odds over attending the NAM summit in Iran.

Calling on Haneya not to attend the Tehran conference, the PNA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has earlier stressed that inviting the Hamas leader to represent the Palestinians "is a strong strike to the Palestinian unity."

Moreover, a Palestinian official said the PNA had threatened to boycott the meeting if a Hamas delegation showed up, as an Iranian invitation to Hamas is "a blatant interference in internal Palestinian affairs ..."

Last month, the Palestinian presidency announced that Abbas would participate in the NAM summit in Iran, where he has not visited since his election into office in early 2005.

Yet, Iran is considered the main backer of Hamas, which routed pro-Abbas forces and took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.