HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi was greeted in Zimbabwe on Thursday with chants of criticism of the West as he arrived at what is predicted to be the ultimate cease of his three-nation African tour.
Raisi was acquired by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the Harare Worldwide Airport.
Each international locations are beneath US sanctions, and Raisi’s journey to Africa, which beforehand included stops in Kenya and Uganda, displays Iran’s efforts to forge new partnerships to melt the influence of these harsh financial sanctions.
Iran and Zimbabwe have already got a joint everlasting fee on political and commerce relations.
They share a historic connection to Mnangagwa Raisi’s help to Iran in the course of the Nineteen Seventies struggle of independence and the eventual liberation of the southern African nation from white minority rule.
“After we went to struggle, Iran was our buddy. I am glad you got here to point out solidarity with Mnangagwa in his temporary speech on the tarmac of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Worldwide Airport, named after the late Zimbabwean chief Mnangagwa who helped oust him in a coup in 2017.
Dozens of followers turned out to see Raisi arrive, some waving Zimbabwean and Iranian flags and a few carrying playing cards with Raisi’s face on them. They sang songs criticizing the West as “white masters” who aimed to intervene in Zimbabwe.
Members of Zimbabwe’s Muslim group got here to the airport to welcome Raisi and a guard of honor from the Zimbabwean navy was held.
Throughout a go to to Uganda on Wednesday, Raisi slammed Western international locations’ assist for homosexuality and LGBTQ+ rights as “one of many dirtiest issues”. Uganda’s current anti-gay legislation and Western criticism are “one other space of cooperation between Iran and Uganda,” he stated.
Zimbabwe has anti-gay legal guidelines, the place homosexuality and same-sex marriage are unlawful.
Nonetheless, Mnangagwa didn’t assault homosexuality; Not like his predecessor, the late Mugabe, who described homosexuals as “worse than canine and pigs”, he didn’t assault homosexuality.
The final time an Iranian chief visited Zimbabwe was present President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2010.
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AP Africa Information: https://apnews.com/hub/africa