Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
5 February 2002
Your Excellency, Minister Kharrazi,
Ministers
Excellencies
Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen
After two days of serious deliberations we have reached the conclusion of this, our sixth Joint Commission between the Republic of South Africa and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Your Excellency will join me in saying that this has been a highly successful meeting as evidenced by the fact that a MOU on Drug cooperation has been initialled and a MOU on Health Cooperation is about to be signed. Excellent progress has been made in the field of Scientific and Educational exchanges as well as in regard to furthering our bilateral commercial relations.
South Africa regards its good friendly relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran as being of great importance and significance, so the fact that constructive discussions were held in an effort to remove any obstacles in the way of increasing the commercial and technological interaction between our two countries I regard as a further indication of the success of this meeting. South Africa can be a gateway for the business people of Iran into Africa in the same way that the Islamic Republic of Iran can be a gateway for South African business people to enter the Central Asian Republics. Removing obstacles to improving our bilateral trade will also therefore improve inter regional trade which will help the IOR-ARC fulfil its aim of boosting trade amongst its members.
Apart from being an opportunity to review and enhance our bilateral relations, this Joint Commission has given our two sides the chance to seriously consider how we can work together to promote President Khatami's ideal of promoting dialogue amongst civilizations while at the same time looking for ways in which the Islamic Republic of Iran can interact and help with the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
This meeting has also provided us with an opportunity to review pressing multilateral issues such as the reconstruction of Afghanistan, developments in the Middle East, and developments throughout Africa. It has also given both sides the chance to reaffirm their condemnation of international terrorism in any form and to reaffirm their commitment to promoting the goal of international disarmament. Both sides have studied the issues related to Sustainable Development and South Africa looks forward to the participation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the forthcoming very important World Summit on Sustainable Development that will be held in Johannesburg in August of this year.
It is gratifying to know that my colleague, our Minister of Health, has had a most successful visit to Tehran as well. South Africa looks forward to working with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the health field not only for the benefit of South Africa but also for the benefit of our neighbours in the SADC region and elsewhere in Africa. South Africa is grateful for the progress made in the field of scientific cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran and in particular welcomes the future exchanges of students and academics that will take place between our two countries. This will contribute to an increased appreciation of our two cultures and it is my hope that it will be possible in the near future to finalise a Cultural Agreement between our two countries.
Apart from my meetings with Your Excellency, I had the pleasure of meeting a number of other Iranian dignatories. These meetings have not only given me a chance to brief Iranian leaders about developments in South Africa and the rest of Africa, but I have had the opportunity to learn more about the developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the region to see the great progress that has been made here in the 23 years since your revolution. We are indeed pleased to be here now as you celebrate the 23rd Anniversary of the Revolution.
South Africa as the Chair of the Non Aligned Movement and soon to be the first Chair of the new African Union, and the Islamic Republic of Iran as the Chair of the G-77, have a duty to the people of our two countries and to all the peoples of the South, to work together in an effort to ensure a better world for all - a world that is free from poverty, oppression, terrorism, and any form of discrimination. It must be a world in which everybody can be guaranteed health, education and access to the means of development, and a world where no one country or region tries to, or is able to dominate others in any way.
Your Excellency, in closing I would like to express to you and your colleagues my sincere gratitude as well as that of, my colleague Minister Tshabalala Msimang, as well as my whole delegation for your generous hospitality and for all the excellent arrangements that were made for us. Personally I look forward very much to my visit to the city of Esfehan tomorrow, having heard a great deal about this ancient centre of civilisation. We shall return home to be promoters of tourism to the Islamic Republic of Iran on your behalf. I had greatly enjoyed this, my third visit to your wonderful city of Tehran. I look forward with anticipation to receiving Your Excellency in South Africa later this year for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Thank you