Iran lawmakers meet African ambassadors in Tehran

Several members of Iran’s parliament held a meeting with African ambassadors In Tehran on Wednesday.

Fifteen African ambassadors attended the meeting which was held on the occasion of Africa Day on May 25.

Abbas Golrou, chairman of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told ICANA that “in this meeting, the obstacles of Iran-Africa cooperation, priorities from the perspective of Africans, and strategies for developing cooperation were discussed.”

“The conditions of relations between Iran and African countries are not favorable, good and acceptable,” Golrou said. “One thousand billion dollars is the volume of African trade, while Iran's share is one-thousandth, i.e., less than one billion dollars, and this is not acceptable.”

He added, “We do not see Africa as a region for economic gain, but we are interested in establishing a fraternal relationship with Africa as a post-colonial country and developing our interactions in various fields.”

On May 25 of each year, African countries celebrate Africa Day, formerly known as African Freedom Day. The annual celebration marks the founding of the Organization of African Unity, now known as the African Union

On May 25, 1963, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed the founding charter of the Organization of African Unity in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Since then, the commemoration of the historic day by Africans and Africans in the diaspora has served as an opportunity for each country to organize events in order to promote the rapprochement between African peoples.

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