TEHRAN – Members of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee held a meeting with African ambassadors to Iran.

Fifteen African ambassadors attended the meeting which was held on the occasion of Africa Day on May 25.

Abbas Golrou, chairman of the parliamentary committee, told ICANA that “in this meeting, the obstacles of Iran-Africa cooperation, priorities from the perspective of Africans, and strategies for developing cooperation were discussed.”

Referring to the state of trade and economic relations between Iran and Africa, he said, “The conditions of relations between Iran and African countries are not favorable, good and acceptable. One thousand billion dollars is the volume of African trade, while Iran's share is one-thousandth, i.e., less than one billion dollars, and this is not acceptable.”

He added, “We do not see Africa as a region for economic gain, but we are interested in establishing a fraternal relationship with Africa as a post-colonial country and developing our interactions in various fields.”

The MP said, “All the ambassadors welcomed the development of Africa's economic relations with Iran and stressed the need for it, and expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of sufficient knowledge of each other's markets. They emphasized that the most important factor in the low level of communication is the lack of knowledge we have about each other.”