Uganda, Iran sign 4 cooperation agreements to bolster bilateral ties

ENTEBBE, UGANDA; The Government of Uganda and high-ranking officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran have signed four cooperation agreements as part of President Ebrahim Raisi’s official state visit to Uganda. 

Among the four agreements signed was an introduced waiver on visa fees between the two countries, agricultural cooperation, the formation of a joint permanent intergovernmental commission, and a joint political statement.

The signing of the ties took place on Wednesday, July 12, in the presence of President Raisi and his Ugandan counterpart President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe.

Speaking after the Wednesday meeting, President Yoweri Museveni said that whereas Uganda and Iran have been cooperating in several fields, the documents signed present an opportunity to further deepen the ties for the benefit of both countries.

Mr Museveni expressed the need to learn from Iran’s valuable experiences in countering Western hegemony.

The President 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.

“We have so much oil we discovered years ago. We have our arguments against our new colonial agents who are saying we should only build pipelines for crude oil and no refinery. When I visited Iran, (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad was the president and I asked him about having a refinery. He said they have nine refineries and building more. When I came back, I was able to put my foot down and insist on a refinery for our oil and the petrochemical industry,” said the President of Uganda

Museveni said going forward, Uganda will appoint a person in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be in charge of this desk as the East African country embarks on the implementation of the signed ties.

In response, President Raisi hailed Mr Museveni for the warm welcome and stressed the importance of avoiding exports of raw materials to the West, as desired by the imperialist countries.

Raisi said that Iran’s pharmaceutical and medical industry have developed so much that more than 90% of the products used in these sectors are manufactured locally whereas others are exported to other countries.

“We also produce surgery sets. This is done by Iranian scientists. We are ready to share experience with a friendly country of Uganda,” he noted.

“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 noted as he called for expanding and strengthening relations with African countries in various fields, especially with Uganda.

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.