Iran invites Prez Mahama for visit
The Iranian President, Dr Hassan Rouhani, has extended an official invitation to President John Mahama to visit Iran as part of efforts to deepen diplomatic ties between the two countries.
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During the visit, the two leaders are expected to seal certain agreements reached by the joint commission which was put together when Iran’s immediate past President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited Ghana last year.
Some of the sectors where Iran is seeking to support Ghana are agriculture, health and petroleum.
Collaboration
The Director General of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of Africa, Mr Valiollah Mohammadi, speaking to journalists yesterday after conferring with Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at the Flagstaff House, said Iran considered Ghana as an important ally in Africa, particularly because of Ghana’s current chairmanship of ECOWAS.
He said with Iran’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the two countries could work together to further deepen their trade and diplomatic relations to the benefit of their people.
Mr Mohammadi recalled that during the visit to Ghana last year by the former Iranian President, the two countries agreed to implement decisions arrived at by the joint commission in 2015.
He explained that it was for that reason that the new President had extended an invitation to President Mahama to Iran for them to hold further discussions.
Support
Mr Mohammadi, who was for a long time Iran’s Ambassador to Ghana, said Iran was ready to share its experiences and expertise in the petroleum industry with Ghana.
He also hinted of the willingness of Iranian petroleum companies to do business in Ghana and expressed the hope that sealing the agreements between the two countries would give impetus to that.
In his meeting with the Vice-President, Mr Mohammadi, who was the head of a three-man delegation, presented the letter inviting President Mahama to Mr Amissah-Arthur.
The former Ambassador said the two countries had the potential to expand and boost their bilateral ties and stressed the need for them to work in concert to achieve that objective.
Vice-President
Mr Amissah-Arthur said at the meeting that Ghana cherished its relationship with Iran and on that score expressed the government’s willingness to maintain close ties between the two nations.
He expressed optimism that President Mahama would honour the Iranian government’s invitation to him.