Pretoria Favors Promoting Ties With Tehran: S.African Official

Pretoria, Oct 30, IRNA – A senior South African official said on Tuesday that Pretoria is keen to promote bilateral ties with Tehran. Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 11th Joint Commission of Iran and South Africa, undersecretary general of South African Foreign Ministry for Asian and Middle East affairs, Francis Moloi said that his country attaches a special significance to its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The two-day meeting attended by negotiating delegations from the two countries opened in Pretoria. Iran-South Africa ties are unparalleled, he said, noting that their relations and cooperation are based on freedom and democracy in South Africa. Moloi further noted that Iran is one of the main supporters of anti-apartheid movement and Nelson Mandela, former South African president, in a special message after the collapse of the regime in 1994, appreciated Iran for the support to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. Underlining the significance of Iran-South Africa Joint Commission, Moloi said that holding the commission session provides a suitable opportunity for defining a mechanism for boosting bilateral ties. Given historical bonds between the two states, Pretoria seeks to promote the level of ties with Tehran, he said. Addressing the same commission, Iranian Foreign Ministry director general for African affairs, Valiollah Mohammadi Nasrabadi referred to excellent and long-standing ties between Tehran and Pretoria and said that organizing the commission is a major step forward to promoting bilateral ties. Expressing pleasure with holding ten commission earlier, he added that more than 80 cooperation deals have been signed during the meetings. The two countries’ delegations will discuss the issues under the three categories of politics, economy and energy in the two-day meeting. The tenth joint economic commission meeting was held in Tehran in 2008./end