The 16th summit of heads of states or governments of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) will be held on Aug. 30 and Aug. 31 in Tehran and is expected be attended by heads or high-ranking officials from more than 100 countries.

Prior to the summit meeting, a ministerial-level meeting of NAM will be held following a two-day expert-level NAM conference which opened on Sunday.

This year's NAM summit is held against the backdrop of a series of upheavals in West Asia and North Africa.

Besides the traditional issues like human rights, fighting terrorism, WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) disarmament, Palestinian issue and reforms in the UN structure, another three issues will also be highlighted on the sidelines of the summit, analysts said.

SYRIAN CRISIS

With the Syrian crisis lingering, Iran, Syria's close ally, will take the advantage of hosting this round of NAM summit to gain support for the Syrian government, analysts said.

Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Chief Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Sunday that Iran stands against any foreign intervention in Syria, stressing that the NAM summit in Tehran aims at creating a chance to help resolve the 18-month-old crisis in Syria.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran would present a "comprehensive" proposal to solve the Syrian crisis and it would be discussed on the sidelines of the 16th NAM meeting.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Thursday that Tehran would present an "acceptable and rational" proposal on the Syria crisis at the upcoming NAM summit.

Iran maintains everybody should refrain, avoid violence and try to work out some kind of solution between various political parties in Syria, Dr. Sadeq Zibakalam, a professor of political science with Tehran University, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"Iran knows if (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad goes, pressure on Iran will be mounting," he said.

IRAN NUCLEAR ISSUE

Recently some high-ranking Israeli officials said their country would launch a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The remarks were strongly responded by Iranian officials, who said they would resolutely retaliate if Iran is attacked.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said on Aug. 22 that if attacked by foreign forces, Iran will protect its sovereignty and integrity of its territory.

For years, Iran has been maneuvering to win international support for its controversial nuclear program. During this round of summit, Iran will try to gain support from as many countries as possible for its stance on the nuclear issue -- against sanctions and military threats while supporting dialogue and negotiation -- to ease the mounting pressure from the West.

Iran will try to use the NAM gathering to make at least some participants voice their support for solving Iran's nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiation, said Zibakalam.

"Iran will try to use this opportunity to sort of dampen some of the pressure that is coming particularly from the United States, " he added.

IRAN-EGYPT RELATIONS

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will reportedly pay a visit to Tehran during the NAM summit to hand over the movement's rotating chairmanship to Iran.

Morsi's visit to Iran is significant, taking into consideration that the two countries severed relations more than three decades ago.

Egypt and Iran cut ties after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, when Egypt gave asylum to the deposed Iranian shah in Cairo and made peace with Israel.

However, officials from both countries made some "goodwill remarks" on bilateral ties last year, and it was rumored then that the two countries might normalize their ties.

Since Morsi took power this year, the two countries have showed some interest in the restoration of their ties.

Iran has been expanding for years its influence in the region and Egypt holds a very important position in the Arab world. The warm-up of bilateral ties between the two countries will significantly affect the geopolitical structure of the region, experts said.

Therefore, Morsi's remarks and whether he will meet senior Iranian officials on the sidelines of the NAM summit will be closely studied.

"From Iranian leaders' perspective, there is no reason why we shouldn't have full diplomatic relations with Egypt after considering the new Egyptian government has risen to the power," said Zibakalam.