Iran's deputy FM due in Zimbabwe

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian is slated to visit Zimbabwe on the second leg of his tour of Africa.
During his stay in Harare, the Iranian deputy foreign minister will meet with senior Zimbabwean officials.Amir Abdollahian is in the South African capital, Pretoria, to attend Iran-South Africa Joint Political Commission. He returned to Pretoria on Monday morning from Cape Town where he met South African parliamentarians.
Expansion of all-out ties with the African states tops Amir Abdollahian's agenda during his tour of Africa.
Iran has striven hard to maximize relations with the African continent. The country is also an observing member of the African Union and has shown an active presence in previous AU summit meetings.
The country is considered as one of the AU's strategic partners along with India, Japan, China, several South American states and Turkey, while Tehran is also believed to be prioritizing promotion of its economic and political ties with the African states.
Speaking in a meeting with visiting Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in South Africa in March, South African President Jacob Zuma urged Tehran and Pretoria to promote economic relations and increase mutual cooperation between the two countries.
On Saturday, Amir Abdollahian underlined the necessity for the further expansions of all-out relations between Tehran and Pretoria, and called establishment of Iran-South Africa joint trade council an important step to this end.
"We hope that stronger steps will be taken for the comprehensive development of the relations between the two countries," Amir Abdollahian said in a meeting with Chairman of South African parliament's Foreign Policy Commission James Masango in Pretoria.
He also voiced pleasure in holding the 11th meeting of the two countries' joint trade council, and described it as an important step towards identification of Iran and South Africa's economic and trade capacities.
Amir Abdollahian pointed to the North-South transit cooperation between Iran, Oman and the Central Asia, and called it a unique opportunity for South Africa to export goods to the Central Asia and Russia through Iran.
Masango, for his part, expressed the hope that further cooperation between the two countries' parliaments would lead to the consolidation of relations in other political, economic and cultural fields.