The president heads to Africa a month after a three-country trip to Latin America.
Tehran, Iran – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has embarked on his first tour of Africa, which Tehran wants to use to expand political and economic relations across the continent.
Raisi left Tehran on Tuesday for a trip that will take him to Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe in the first by an Iranian president to Africa in 11 years.
On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told reporters that Africa was a “continent of opportunity” that wants to engage with Iran and Tehran is eager to reciprocate.
“We can describe this trip as a new starting point for increasing economic and trade ties along with boosting political and cultural relations with the countries of this continent,” he said.
Alireza Peyman Pak, former head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran and now an official at the agriculture ministry, told state television before the trip that Iran had been “neglecting” opportunities in Africa in recent years such as China and several of Tehran’s neighbors, including Turkey. and the United Arab Emirates, have strengthened their presence on the continent.
Pak said Iran had exported $1.2 billion worth of goods and services, including petrochemicals, food, medicine and technical and engineering services, to Africa last year. He added that the amount was still not high enough, although it was an improvement over recent years.
“An African dollar is the same as a European dollar. The interests are the same. The global economy requires us to engage with any opportunity on an international scale and improve our foreign currency earnings,” he said, adding that Iran could also exchange goods with African countries in circumstances where banking systems are weak or sanctions present challenges.
In March, Raisi hosted a meeting with a group of West African representatives, in which he presented Iran as a different kind of partner compared to Western countries with colonial histories on the continent.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s expansion of relations with Africa is not aimed at the wealth of this region, but at the goal of the progress and well-being of all nations,” he said.
The trip comes a month after Raisi began a tour of Latin America, where he signed a series of agreements to strengthen ties with US-sanctioned allies Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Tehran has been seeking to diversify its relations since the United States unilaterally abandoned the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
