TEHRAN – Iranian President Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi met on Tuesday with the presidents of Algeria and Mozambique on the sidelines of the 6th Summit of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).

The meeting took place in Qatar’s capital Doha, where the gas summit was held. 

In his meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Ayatollah Raisi praised the Algerian people for their revolutionary spirit and resilience in the face of colonialism.

“History proves that the resistance of the nations against the hegemons has been fruitful,” the president said.

He added, “Iran and Algeria have good cooperation with each other, but this level of interaction is not enough, and according to the determination of the leaders of the two countries, Tehran-Algiers relations can be expanded in bilateral, regional and international fields.”

Raisi stated, “Wherever we see insecurity in the region, we can see the traces and effects of the presence and intervention of outsiders, especially Americans. Therefore, the main solution to the problems and insecurities in the region is to cut off the hand of the United States and outsiders from the region.”

The president also praised Algeria's rightful stance against the Zionist regime and other issues, saying, “Your country's opposition to the Zionist regime's continued membership as an observer member of the African Union is a valuable step in supporting the rights of the oppressed Palestinian people and the cause of liberating Quds.”

In the meeting, the Algerian president also expressed his desire to expand his country's relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in various fields.

Tebboune said, “By taking advantage of the existing will of the two countries’ leaders, we need to develop relations to all executive levels so that the existing groundwork for more cooperation can be operational and realized as soon as possible.”

Referring to his country's rightful and supportive stance in defending the rights of the oppressed Palestinian people, Tebboune said Algeria's opposition to the continued membership of Israel as an observer member of the African Union led to the suspension of this regime.

“Algeria will continue on this path, despite the exorbitant costs it has incurred in seeking justice,” he added.

Raisi castigates Western greed in Africa

The Iranian president also met with the President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi. In the meeting, Ayatollah Raisi expressed his satisfaction with Nyusi’s remarks on the successful results of his country's development program, according to the official website of the Iranian presidency.

President Raisi said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always had good relations with African countries and today, based on this constructive view of Iran to Africa, we are ready to expand cooperation with the continent.”

He said, “In the view of the Islamic Republic of Iran, African countries are lands full of talents and rich resources, which have unfortunately been plundered by Western countries for the past few centuries.”

Pointing out that the Islamic Republic has always believed that African countries have hard-working people and significant reserves and talents for growth and development, Raisi said his administration is ready to “expand trade and economic cooperation with African countries, especially Mozambique, and the transfer of experience and technical knowledge to these countries.”

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has always had good relations with African countries, he said, adding, “I urge the Minister of Foreign Affairs to prepare the ground for holding the joint economic cooperation commission as soon as possible so that the process of the development of interaction between the two countries can be accelerated.”

“Western countries want Africa for themselves, but we want you for yourself,” he said, adding, “Western countries and world’s hegemonic powers are only seeking to misuse the resources of African countries. If this is not the case, what other meaning and reason could the Zionist regime's attempt to join the African Union have?”

Stating that Westerners and Americans pursued only their own interests and did not take steps to develop those countries wherever they went, he said, “The rise of insecurity and the activities of terrorist groups in recent years in some African countries is also rooted in Western and American interference. The confession of former U.S. officials to the formation of Daesh (ISIL) by this country is proof of this claim.”

At the meeting, the President of Mozambique also expressed his country's interest in deepening relations with Iran. “We have a lot of natural resources that we can use for the benefit of the Mozambican people and for development with the help of the technical capabilities of Iranian experts," said the Mozambican president.

Filipe Nyusi stated that one of the serious problems in the development of his country is the spread of insecurity and terrorism, which is mainly directed and controlled from outside the borders of the country.