Iran and Zimbabwe signed 11 documents for expansion of cooperation between the two countries in different fields.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Zimbabwean capital Harare on Thursday (April 22) on the first leg of his Africa trip which also took him to Uganda.

Ahmadinejad, who headed a high-ranking delegation, was officially welcomed by his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe.

Before his departure at the Mehrabad International Airport, the Iranian president told reporters that the visit comes as part of his administration’s plan to consolidate ties with African countries.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, senior aide Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi and the head of the presidential office Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei accompanied the president on his African tour.

Speaking at a dinner banquet thrown in honor of his Iranian guest in Harare, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe vowed "continues support" for Iran’s nuclear program in the face of Western powers mulling new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"Be also assured, comrade president, of Zimbabwe’s continuous support of Iran’s just cause on the nuclear issue," Mugabe told Ahmadinejad.

"Because of the principled positions we have taken at both the domestic and international level, Zimbabwe and Iran have been unjustly vilified and punished by Western countries," Mugabe said.

"Today, both are victims of illegal and unjustified sanctions imposed by Western countries who seek to undermine our sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity," he added.

The multi-sector and multi-national trade exhibition was opened on Friday (April 23) in the presence of President Ahmadinejad and his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe.

Ahmadinejad criticized bullying powers for making attempts to deprive world nations of their inalienable rights.

"A number of bullying powers in the world have violated the rights of nations and have, for centuries, deprived them of their inalienable rights," said Ahmadinejad at the opening ceremony of the international trade fair in Bulawayo.

"Even today, these powers try to possess all the resources of the world and do not want nations to achieve peace, prosperity and security."

"Bullying powers take no steps toward the development of other countries and only have their own interests in mind," he added.

The Iranian president went on to say that world nations have a bitter experience of the meddling of these powers, which seek to invade and destroy the markets of other countries and prevent their scientific progress.

"All governments and nations have the right to decide their fate and use their natural resources for their progress and to fight poverty and illiteracy."

"World nations including Iran and Zimbabwe have decided to stand firm against bullying powers and not allow injustice and oppression to prevail," he said.

The protocols envision cooperation in the fields of tourism, science, technology, youth affairs, transportation, aviation and education as well as lifting political and service visa issuance.

Furthermore, Iran’s Export Guarantee Fund and Zimbabwe Finance Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the meeting as the two countries’ officials agreed on formation of mutual investment companies and drawing up executive plans for scientific, cultural, and technical cooperation.

Meantime, Iranian and Zimbabwean presidents on Thursday opened the Iran tractor assembly line. President Ahmadinejad and his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe toured different sections of the tractor assembly line sponsored by three Iranian enterprises. Having opened the line, President Ahmadinejad offered the Iranian tractor’s switch to Mugabe.

A report by the UK-based Daily Telegraph claimed that a deal had been reached between the two countries under which Iran would be allowed to mine potential uranium deposits in Zimbabwe to provide fuel for its nuclear reactors and in exchange Zimbabwe would get oil from Iran.

The report said that the agreement was sealed secretly last month during a visit to Tehran by a close aide to Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe.

Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube rejected the report, saying there was no evidence suggesting that Zimbabwe had such deposits.

"It’s not true. No such agreement was signed," said Ncube.

"There is no certainty that Zimbabwe has uranium deposits. You first have to prove that there are uranium deposits and that has not been done," Reuters quoted him as saying.

During the meeting, Ahmadinejad said all nations are entitled to nuclear energy meant for peaceful purposes and no one is allowed to deprive them of this inalienable right. He went on to say that Iran is working for total nuclear disarmament. And those countries that stockpile nuclear weapons and threaten other nations with them should be the first to disarm, the Iranian president noted.

The Ugandan president said Iran’s nuclear energy program is in compliance with international treaties.

Ahmadinejad said the time of materialistic thought has ended, stressing the world is on the threshold of big developments. "Over the past 100 years, bullying powers have imposed an economic system on the world to plunder the assets of nations," said Ahmadinejad. He said arrogant powers waged wars over the past century and killed more than hundreds of millions of innocent people, adding: "All these crimes were committed to dominate resources of the world."

"Those who claim to support human rights have built atomic bombs and are threatening nations with such arms," he stated.

"Bullying powers are inching toward collapse," the Iranian president reiterated.

Ahmadinejad called on all countries to unite and set up a modern human system, saying, "Aggressors will have no place in the world in the near future."

President Ahmadinejad and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni held the second round of private talks in Kampala (April 24).

The two presidents exchanged views on bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments.

President Ahmadinejad told a joint press conference with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni that "Iran’s nuclear issue is a political case."

The Iranian president then took a swipe at the British and US governments for politicizing Iran’s nuclear issue, saying their "enmity toward the Iranian nation" is not a new approach.

Pointing to the fact that during his presidential campaign, President Barack Obama sought to bring change to the "inhumane and violent image" of the US government, President Ahmadinejad said "[President] Obama will suffer most from adopting a new round of sanctions against Iran," as the move would ruin his political posturing.

The remarks came after the Iranian and Ugandan presidents held two rounds of private talks in the capital of Kampala.

The two leaders exchanged views on bilateral relations along with regional and international developments on Saturday and signed three documents on future cooperation.

Both countries also vowed to promote cooperation in the field of finance, agriculture, health, energy, investment, transportation, tourism and animal husbandry.

President Ahmadinejad and his Ugandan counterpart Museveni signed the documents in the Ugandan capital (April 24).

The first document is on cooperation in health and pharmaceuticals, the second on overseas aid programs while the third is a framework document, serving to oversee the implementation of other documents.

Iran and Uganda released a joint statement, urging the use of resources in the two countries to increase mutual, regional and international cooperation.

According to James Mugume, the permanent secretary of Uganda’s foreign ministry, Ahmadinejad and Museveni also held talks on the development of Uganda’s oil industry.

During the visit, Ahmadinejad said the time of materialistic thought has ended, stressing that the world is on the threshold of big developments.

"Over the past 100 years, bullying powers have imposed an economic system on the world to plunder the assets of nations," said Ahmadinejad.