‘Iran is second to none in fighting terrorism’
Iran recently celebrated the 39th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution victory. In this interview, Iranian Ambassador to Nigeria, Morteza Rahimi Zarchi, speaks on his country’s development journey since the revolution, the challenges in the course of est
Daily Trust: How has Iran fared since the 1979 revolution? Rahimi Zarchi:
The victory happened on the February 11, 1979. Immediately after that it was welcome by almost all the countries throughout the world. At the beginning, we witnessed mischievous acts emanating from the super powers against the will of the people. First, they imposed very unjust sanctions against Iran. After that, they wanted to plan a coup against the people’s will with the support of some elements who were mainly foreigners. The heroic nation of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been able to resist all these conspiracies during the past four decades. In spite of all these conspiracies, Iran has made gains in different sectors - politics, security, education, economy, medicine, energy among others. The young tree that was planted 39 years ago is now a big tree producing fruits.
The main achievements include political independence. The country has held at least 40 elections in the past 39 years. The last one was the presidential election held in 2017 and majority of Iranians voted for Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the current president.
In the energy sector, we have reached a point where Iran solely produces 78,000 Megawatts of electricity. Now we are the 13th country in the world among electricity producers. We now export electricity to neighbouring countries including Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Armenia and Turkmenistan. In the automotive industry, Iran is ranked 18th in the world. 1.4 million vehicles are produced yearly in Iran. These are being exported to 39 countries. We are hoping that Nigeria will be the 40th country. In drugs and pharmaceuticals, almost 90% of drugs being consumed by Iranians are produced in the country. We have made remarkable advancement in bio-technology. Launching satellite into space, Iran is among the only nine countries that have direct access to that technology.
In economy, according to the last report of the World Bank, Iran’s economy has grown by 3.4% in the last two years. The report said Iran’s economy would experience 4% growth in 2018 and 4.3% in 2019. The inflation rate in 2017 stood at 9.5%. The population of Iran has more than doubled since the revolution. When it comes to the number of university students, the figure is very interesting. The number of students increased from 175,000 at the beginning of the revolution to 4.7 million today. In this aspect, Iran has advanced 26 times more. Educational disciplines have increased from 396 programmes to 3,000. Iran has the largest number of universities in the Middle East.
Iran has 178 newspapers and magazines in circulation in different subjects like news, socials, economy, arts, politics, entertainment and sports. Of the daily publications, 125 are national newspapers while 53 are local, including a newspaper for the blind. Four of the newspapers publish in English language.
On security, Iran has been playing a major role in stabilizing the Middle East region. Our role in combating terrorism and extremism is second to none. Iran is ready to share its experience in combating terrorism with other countries because we believe that terrorism has no border and cannot be constrained to one country or region.
DT: What challenges did Iran face during this period?
Amb. Rahimi Zarchi: Ever since the Islamic revolution became victorious and during the course of establishing an Islamic government and even after that, foreigners were trying to interfere in our internal
affairs, creating lots of conspiracy against us, sponsoring some agitators and rebels, trying to make coups against the new government, tarnishing the relationship between Iran and its neighbours as well as propaganda against Iran in the traditional and social media. However, many of the conspirators get surprised about the realities on ground whenever they visit Iran.
DT: What is your assessment of Iran’s cooperation with Africa?
Amb. Rahimi Zarchi: The victory of Iran became a source of inspiration to many African countries. Iran has plans to expand cooperation with Africa and in particular with Nigeria, one of the continent’s strongest economies. Apart from the African department in Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is another body called the Supreme Taskforce for Africa, under the supervision of the first vice president of Iran. Recently in Iran, there were numerous meetings targeting Africa with the aim of expanding relations with the continent, and a number of decisions have been taken, among which is allocating bank credits to African countries, establishment of marine lines, joint investments and projects. I hope this would be translated from rhetoric to action and the ties between Iran and Africa would be strengthened.
DT: How would you assess bilateral relations between Nigeria and Iran?
We have taken remarkable steps in expanding relations with Nigeria after the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Tehran. For the past one year, we have had exchange visits at the highest political level. At the 2017 Inter-Parliamentary Union in Moscow, Nigeria’s Senate President, Bukola Saraki, met with his Iranian counterpart and they had fruitful negotiations. Also, we have been able to make lots of synergy between the Iranian and Nigerian private sector and we have initiated some cooperation which we hope will produce some good outcomes.
The fifth bi-national commission meeting of government officials from both countries was held in Abuja almost four years ago. The sixth meeting would be held in Tehran soon. We are hopeful that we will finalize discussions and make good decisions.
DT: What about educational cooperation between both countries? Amb. Rahimi Zarchi: The advancement of Iranian Universities is attractive to Nigerian students, most of who are seeking higher education in those institutions because of their competitive cost and quality of education. Quite a good number of Nigerians have been admitted into Iranian universities in different disciplines. We are very hopeful and confident that through the signing of new agreements in the field of developing scientific and educational activities, the cooperation between both countries in the area of education would be advanced.
With that, we will be able to meet the demands of Nigerian graduates seeking advanced level of education in Iran. If we succeed in signing the agreement, we will be able to open some branches of Iranian universities in Nigeria either in Abuja or other states. If Iranian universities open branches in Nigeria, the cost of traveling to Iran would be slashed. That is our major target.
DT: Which areas of the cooperation do you plan to improve upon? Amb. Rahimi Zarchi: Oil and gas, construction and housing. Groups of expert delegations in the oil sector from both countries have been exchanging visits and negotiations are still ongoing. Next, I plan to meet with Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources for negotiations. Some Iranian companies have also agreed to establish oil refineries and petrochemical installations in Nigeria. Some other companies have made negotiations in housing, hotels and accommodation with Nigerian partners. I’m very hopeful that discussions would be finalized as soon as possible.
DT: What can you say about Nigeria-Iran trade ties? Amb. Rahimi Zarchi: Traders and Iranian companies actively participate in the Lagos International Trade fair. After that, the Trade and Economy section of the embassy is making efforts to bring in more Iranian companies to participate in subsequent trade fairs in Nigeria. The volume of bilateral trade is not very remarkable because our expectation is much higher than what we have at the moment. After the conclusion of the nuclear deal, the trade volume will skyrocket. Our target is to reach $500 million in the nearest possible time.