The report also shows that officials from the two countries have been holding secret talks to work out how the reserves could be exploited. AP said the report was leaked by an official from a member country of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Of crucial importance was the revelation that Irans Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, met secretly in January with senior mining officials in Zimbabwe, “to resume negotiations … for the benefit of Iran’s uranium procurement plan.”
The reports two-page intelligence summary said Iranian engineers had done work to map out uranium deposits in Africa and assess the amount of uranium they contain. And according to AP, the head of Irans Cooperative Ministry, Abbas Johari, led a delegation that shared the report in a meeting with “agriculture and mining interests” in Harare. This damning news comes just days after reports from Libya suggested that some of the mercenaries hired by dictator Muammar Gaddafi to shoot innocent protesters were linked to Zimbabwe.
Iran is under United Nations sanctions due to their secrecy and refusal to cooperate with IAEA investigations. U.N. member countries are banned from assisting with any part of the countrys controversial nuclear programme. Professor Ken Mufuka, a Zimbabwean activist in the United States, said he feared Zimbabwe would be grouped among these rogue regimes, creating a negative atmosphere for investment groups and undermining urgently needed economic development.
Mufuka explained that these underhanded associations threaten Zimbabwes global standing and could lead to full sanctions, at a time when the coalition government is calling for the removal of targetted sanctions.
And dont forget the Israeli lobby. Everything to do with Iran affects Israeli security, and if Zimbabwe is seen to be in cohorts with Tehran, we would get very bad global press and undermine all our development efforts, said Mufuka.
Professor Mufuka explained that revenue from secret deals is never accounted for and ordinary Zimbabweans would not benefit from dealings with Iran.
Iranian officials have insisted that they have enough domestic supplies of uranium to sustain their nuclear energy ambitions. But the secret meetings in Zimbabwe, and other planned African exploits, show Iran desperately needs more.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad visited Zimbabwe in April last year and there was speculation that he had secured a uranium rights deal. Robert Mugabe denied the reports but claimed Iran had the right to apply for uranium rights. The Associated Press report proves they were both not telling the truth.
Zimbabwe has an estimated 455,000 tons of uranium deposits that were discovered at Kanyemba, north of Harare. The uranium ore needs to processed into enriched uranium but the country does not possess the special equipment needed.
Post published in: News