Iranian president welcomed by Zimbabwean counterpart after visits to Kenya and Uganda.
Iran and Zimbabwe have signed 12 agreements to boost bilateral relations as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi wrapped up a three-country African tour.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa greeted Raisi as “my brother” on the tarmac after the Iranian leader’s plane landed on Thursday in the capital, Harare.
Hundreds of people holding welcome banners, including many from the Southern African country’s Muslim community, turned out at Robert Mugabe International Airport.
“When you see him, you see me. When you see me, you see him,” Mnangagwa told a crowd of people waving Zimbabwean and Iranian flags who had gathered around the two heads of state.
“When we went to war, Iran was our friend,” said Mnangagwa, referring to Zimbabwe’s fight against Britain for independence, which it attained in 1980. “I am happy you have come to show solidarity.”
Raisi poses for a photo with Zimbabwean schoolchildren at the airport [Iran’s Presidency/WANA/Handout via Reuters]
“Our cooperation with Zimbabwe and our cooperation with the African continent, which is a continent full of potential, could help us for mutual advances,” Raisi said in translated comments in Zimbabwe.
For his part, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe welcomed “investments in several sectors of our economy” without specifying how much investment his country was expecting from Iran.
