Africa tour aims to boost Iran's "strategic depth": Iranian president

Tehran [Iran], July 15: Iran's President EbrahimRaisi said Friday that his diplomatic tour of three African countries was primarily aimed at boosting Iran's "strategic depth."
The just-concluded visit to Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe also aimed to expand bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of the economy and trade, he told reporters upon returning to the Iranian capital of Tehran, the Iranian president's office said in a statement published on its website.
He noted that during the visits, he and his accompanying delegation sought to facilitate access to fair-priced basic goods and raw materials produced in these countries, in a bid to ensure Iran's food security, and find new markets for Iranian products, especially the knowledge-based ones.
It was agreed during the visit that Iran would barter for the three countries' basic goods by offering its petrochemicals, Raisi said, adding the tour also explored the possibility for Iran to undertake extraterritorial cultivation projects there.
Iran also established science and technology offices in the three countries to take an "effective" step toward expanding and facilitating scientific and technological cooperation with them, he said.
Raisi stressed that improving the bilateral relations' level with these countries will definitely lead to the enhancement of Iran's regional and international cooperation, noting that Iran and these states have common stances on opposing and fighting unilateralism.
During the visits, Iran signed over 20 documents on expanding cooperation in different areas with the three countries.
Source: Xinhua