President Jacob Zuma arrives in Iran for state visit

President Jacob Zuma arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday morning for a state visit from Sunday to Monday, the presidency said.

This is the second South African state visit to Iran, the first having been by former president Nelson Mandela in 1999, the presidency said in a statement.

Zuma’s visit would “serve to cement the strong fraternal relations between the two countries that originated during the apartheid era when Iran refused to oil the apartheid machinery and instead cut ties with apartheid South Africa”.

The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran provided “immense potential for closer commercial and investment co-operation between South Africa and Iran”.

- ANA