Fostering Bilateral Ties! Uganda Ink Four Cooperation Agreements With Iran As President Raisi Begins State Visit To Uganda
Iranian and Uganda officials have inked four cooperation agreements in the presence of President Raisi and his Ugandan counterpart President Yoweri Museveni in a ceremony in Uganda’s capital Kampala.
The signing ceremony of agreements came on Wednesday during President Raisi’s state visit to Uganda while senior officials of the two countries put their signatures on the documents.
The four documents signed covered visa waiver, agricultural cooperation, the formation of a joint permanent intergovernmental commission, and a joint political statement.
Upon an official invitation from President Yoweri Museveni, President Raisi touched down at Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport earlier Wednesday. He was then accorded an official welcome by Museveni.
Iran against exports of raw materials
At a joint press conference with his Ugandan president after their meeting, President Raisi stressed the importance of avoiding exports of raw materials to the West, as desired by the imperialist countries.
“Imperialism and the West prefer countries to export oil and raw materials, allowing them to convert these resources into value-added products. Therefore, our efforts in Iran are focused on preventing raw material exports.”
The Iranian president further called for expanding and strengthening relations with African countries in various fields, especially with Uganda.
In response, President Museveni expressed the need to learn from Iran’s valuable experiences in countering Western hegemony.
He shared an example of Uganda’s recent oil and gas discoveries, where initially experts advised against building refineries due to a perceived lack of profitability. However, upon visiting Iran, he realized Uganda needed to establish its own refineries, as Iran and other countries have done.
Raisi’s visit to Uganda is the second leg of a three-nation tour of Africa which will also take him to Zimbabwe.
It is the first time in 11 years that an Iranian president is paying a visit to Africa.
