MNA � Iranian FM Mohamamd Javad Zarif is to embark for Azerbaijan's capital on Tuesday night to attend the 18th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

The 18th NAM Summit will be held on October 25-26, preceded by the preparatory senior officials meeting on October 21-22 and the preparatory ministerial meeting on October 23-24.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is also scheduled to take part in the event.

In his remarks on Monday, Zarif referred to his and President Rouhani's participation in the upcoming summit saying �the NAM is of importance for us since it combats unilateralism and is in accordance with Iran�s policies.�

�The summit is a good opportunity for conducting negotiations on international and regional affairs including Syria,� the Iranian FM added.

Host Azerbaijan will formally take over the chairmanship of NAM for the next three years at the Baku Summit.

NAM has 120 member-countries, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organizations, and aims to uphold anti-war and pacifist principles against imperialism in all its forms.

Summit Conferences are held every three years, and Ministerial Conferences are held eighteen months after each Summit Conference.