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Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Kamal Kharrazi of Iran
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July 22, 2003, 16:30
South Africa and Iran have signed a contract on oil trade worth over R6 billion. Another R9 billion oil contract will soon be finalised between the two countries. The deals will be implemented through PetroSA and Sasol, and the Iranian Oil Company. The deals are aimed at reducing the skewed trade relations, which have favoured Iran, South Africa's largest oil supplier.
The signing of the agreements by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the Foreign Affairs Minister, and Kamal Khazzari, her Iranian counterpart, follows a two day bi-national commission meeting between the two countries' delegations in Pretoria. The meeting discussed various issues, but the focus was mainly on trade and investment. Alec Erwin, the Trade and Industry Minister, has welcomed the agreements with Iran.
However, logically, political issues had to be on the agenda, so the Middle East and the current situation in Iraq were discussed. Although both parties supported peaceful, diplomatic solutions to the Iraqi crisis, stability remains an impossible goal after the fall of Saddam Hussein. With about 40 US troops having been killed in Iraq in the last two months, George W. Bush, the US President, yesterday expressed his conviction that the remnants of Saddam's regime were launching attacks from neighbouring Syria and Iran. However, Kharrazzi has again dismissed the accusations.
Bush's Middle East peace plan, the road map, has also been dismissed by the Iranian foreign minister. What Iran wants is a peace plan, which will allow for the formation of one state, which will accommodate all race groups. This contradicts South Africa's stance, which has adopted the road map. However, these differences will not stop the two countries to work together. A working group led by the two countries’ deputy ministers will meet every six months to review the current relations.
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