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He said attending would sully his office's reputation and reward "Iranian obstinacy and grant legitimacy to a regime that calls for and openly acts to destroy Israel - a UN member state."
Netanyahu leaked information about his conversation. According to unnamed sources, Ban was upset over what he believes was meant to embarrass him. Nonetheless, he may not attend.
Unconfirmed reports said he sees no reason to visit an anti-Semitic country. His spokesman declined comment. Iran's vice president for international affairs, Ali Saeedlou, said he would attend.
At the same time, reports suggest Israel plans an international media campaign geared at thwarting his trip. It already began on Netanyahu's Facebook page, as well one called Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel.
Israeli allies are being urged to tell others that Ban's place isn't in Tehran. Doing so may backfire.
Iran's Ramin Mehman-Parast commented on Netanyahu's remarks, saying:
"We don't think that the stance of the UN and its Secretary-General or the stance of independent states whose officials decide independently can be influenced by these measures (of Israel)."He also highlighted the number of participating nations. At least 50 will attend, including 30 or more presidents. "The presence of 50 delegations at the levels of president, vice-president, prime minister and foreign minister in the Tehran meeting is definite and the number is growing gradually," he added.
"The larger the number of high-ranking world leaders and officials in this summit will be, the more the possibility will be for consultations and bigger decisions to solve the regional and international crises."
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