Iran — A friend indeed

The Herald
To all intents and purposes, whatever "hat" he might wear, whether as the Prime Minister or leader of the Western friend in the MDC as a Zimbabwean should see the friend that is in Iran.

By Tichaona Zindoga
IT was quite easy to view the recent meeting between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the Iranian ambassador here as one depicting the former as making an ironic "U-turn" four months after boycotting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he visited Zimbabwe.

The one temptation was to point to the uncomplimentary pronouncements that PM Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party levelled against the Middle East country, apart from snubbing the Iranian leader on three separate occasions of his excursion.

Tsvangirai neither welcomed the Iranian leader when he touched down at the Harare International Airport on April 23, nor turned up at the State dinner hosted in honour of the visiting leader by President Mugabe at State House.

He did not also attend the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo where President Ahmedinejad officially opened the 51st edition of the premier exhibition.

Several MDC-T senior officials who had been part of the ZITF declared business elsewhere.

However, it was a different matter on Thursday as, according to a report, "Mr Tsvangirai wearing his PM’s hat — which he was supposed to wear during the ZITF — welcomed President Ahmadinejad’s chief envoy to Harare at his Munhumutapa office."

The report then cited: "The satire couldn’t have been clearer given that an ambassador represents his head of state and government, and Mr Tsvangirai was apparently lost to the irony."

Whatever the import of the supposed "U-turn" by the premier who reportedly told the Iranian envoy that the inclusive Government is a unified Government and working well, it is a good sign.

The beauty of it stems not only from the correction of the April childish and irrational snub, which seemed to derive from MDC-T’s friends in the West who have decided to view Iran as an "outpost of tyranny".

It will be noted though that Iran has proved to be a friendlier global player than its accusers who have attacked and pillaged less powerful countries in the name of democracy.

Both Zimbabwe and Iran are victims of Western meddling.

Tsvangirai’s latest move apparently is thankfully informed by Zimbabwe’s long-held view that this hospitable country needs friends not enemies, which President Mugabe repeated in July when he met an envoy from the hostile West.

Iran has been an important power, since the historic 1979 Islamic Revolution that threw out the American puppet regime.

The emerging giant, whose land area equals that of Britain, Germany, Spain and France combined, is irresistible for its being an energy superpower and its shining example in busting unjust Western sanctions.

The people of Iran have devised homegrown solutions in fully exploiting their natural resources and maximising on their competitive advantages and developing their science and technology capacity.

The result has been that Iranian industries such as petro-chemicals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, military, automobile, textile, among others have been phenomenal homegrown successes.

Over the years when Zimbabwe has been constricted, restricted and sanctioned by the West and decided to look East, this same success of Iran has trickled to the country.

In fact, Zimbabwe’s co-operation with fellow Non- Aligned Movement member Iran whose three leaders have visited the country to date was etched in the 1991 Zimbabwe-Iran Joint Commission.

The sixth edition of the commission preceded President Ahmedinejad’s visit that saw Zimbabwe and Iran focusing on political, economic, commercial and cultural issues.

Several Memoranda of Understanding and agreements covering such areas as the abolition of diplomatic visas, science and technology, training, mining, agriculture, tourism, culture and health were signed.

Cumulatively the Zimbabwe-Iran Joint Commission has resulted in the two countries increasingly co-operating in the areas of mining, trade, technology transfer, agriculture, health, energy, aviation, education, water management, defence and broadcasting.

The historic ZITF at which Iranian companies took more than 200 square metres of exhibition space, occupied by 40 companies, making Iran the friendliest foreign country at the fair, highlighted the growing ties between the two countries.

The country’s leader became the first non-African to officially open the fair in Zimbabwe’s history.

During his Zimbabwe visit the Iranian leader officially launched the Industrial Development Corporation tractor project in Harare and toured textile concern Modzone Enterprises in Chitungwiza.

The two are joint Zimbabwe/Iran ventures.

With Iranian companies strongly represented at the just-ended Harare Agricultural Show, which Tsvangirai also visited, he must have left with a feeling of deja vu before he met Ambassador Pournajaf.

To all intents and purposes, whatever "hat" he might wear, whether as the Prime Minister or leader of the Western friend in the MDC as a Zimbabwean should see the friend that is in Iran.

To be a bit romantic, some political scientists have even pointed to the strong cultural ties that exist between Zimbabwe and Iran dating back to the 13th century when people in the two countries traded in ivory and gold.

Contacts with Europeans, by contrast, are dated to have started some 200 years later.

In this vein, when the premier wears his other "hat" he is not only being ahistorical but also unscientific, naïve and hypocritical.

One analyst has pointed out in an article the extent of such hypocrisy and double-dealing.

MDC senior leaders reportedly have as of March 2009 been meeting, seeking and receiving donations from the Iranian Embassy.

"Their leader Morgan Tsvangirai has held several meetings with the Iranian Ambassador Rasool Momeni since 2009 where not only has he sought financial assistance for his party, but he also indicated that the MDC looks forward to cultivating a symbiotic relationship with Iran," said the analyst.

On March 6 2009 the premeir held a meeting with Ambassador Momeni.

He indicated that the Government of Zimbabwe would like to pursue the MOUs it has over the years signed with the government of Iran, chief of these being the refurbishment of the Feruka Oil Refinery and the digitalisation at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings.

The MDC-T-dominated town of Bindura benefited from the benevolence of the Iranian government and people, leading to the conferment of the freedom of the city on January 29 2010 to Ambassador Rassol Momeni.

Ms Thokozani Khupe, MDC-T vice-president and Deputy Prime Minister presided over the function.

Other examples of Iranian help include a US$1 000 donation to buy mealie-meal and cooking oil for distribution to his constituency extended to MDC Member of Parliament for Chikomba Central Moses Jiri by the Iranian Embassy.

Such exchanges were made in several other incidents involving the MDC-T.

In general terms, while Iran is not endowed with the Western megabucks, which have not been forthcoming as promised the MDC in particular and Zimbabweans in general, Iran has shown more than willingness to help Zimbabwe.

Where the others have wanted to see Zimbabwe "crash and burn", and perhaps sanitise that with "humanitarian" aid, Iran has co-operated with Zimbabwe in the same areas such as agriculture that the West wanted to see destroyed.

That the countries that Tsvangirai supports in his other "hat" represent a desperate and dying age of the empire is also a matter of fact, while emerging economies in the East and South represent the future.