President Museveni accepts invitation to Iran for non allied conference

President Museveni shares a light moment with the special envoy from Iran President Yoweri Museveni has accepted an invitation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement due next month in Iran.

The invitation was delivered by President Ahmadinejad’s Special Envoy Dr. Reza Taghipour, Minister of Information and Communication Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was accompanied by Irans’ ambassador to Uganda Ali A. Dabiran and various other officials

The President thanked the special envoy for the message and said it would be a pleasure for him to be there.

The Non-Aligned Movement, the rotating presidency of which will be conferred to Iran on August 26, is a major international organization comprising 120 member states that represent the political, cultural, economic, and social interests of the developing world.

The movement, which is comprised of two-thirds of UN member states, was established in 1961 in Belgrade.

The two leaders discussed various bilateral and global issues including the situation in Syria and also pledged to cooperate in fields such as ICT, agriculture, energy, science and technology and construction.

“We know what is happening in Iran, too much pressure from the West but we are glad that you can manage,” he said, adding that Uganda supports all countries having nuclear energy for peaceful purposes especially for energy. He called for the strengthening of the Afro-Asian solidarity.

Special Envoy Dr. Reza Taghipour said Iran was inviting President Museveni as one of the revolutionaries of Africa and that his country was ready to share technology and exchange ideas in various fields. He said despite the sanctions by western powers, Iran has been able to produce everything and depend on itself and was able to export 48 billion dollars worth of non-oil products.

The meeting was attended by Uganda’s Minister of ICT Ruhakana Rugunda.