Iran desirous of ending sanction anyhow –Nematzadeh

What is the purpose of your visit to Nigeria? I am here to attend a meeting of the Iranian joint economic commission between my country and Nigeria. I came to attend the 5th joint commission meeting of the two countries. The 4th joint commission came up in my country two years ago. Although I was […]

What is the purpose of your visit to Nigeria?
I am here to attend a meeting of the Iranian joint economic commission between my country and Nigeria. I came to attend the 5th joint commission meeting of the two countries. The 4th joint commission came up in my country two years ago. Although I was responsible for the Iran Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade and now I am in charge of the joint commission on behalf of my country and we had a meeting with Minister of State 1 for Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri.
How fruitful was the meeting?
It was very good and useful. I think we could have some more understanding between the two governments, ministers and the private sector. About 30 private enterprises and about 20 experts from different ministries and governmental organisations accompanied me to this meeting. We have had a very good talk with the Minister of Foreign Affairs who is responsible for the joint commission. We have had meetings with several ministers on different activities we intend to start here, jointly with friends. We also had meeting with over a hundred people from the private sector and we have had a common understanding with the Iranian group.
Did you sign any agreements?
Yes, we signed special agreements and one was about tourism. Others are in the areas of industrial cooperation, mining, mineral and the steel industry for joint cooperation. The fourth one was in the area of infrastructure, housing, power plants, electrification and so on.
Did you sign any agreement on the bilateral air service agreement and banking sector to ease the challenges of trade relations between both countries?
Well, we didn’t sign at this moment but this is one of the necessities that we should have direct flight between the two countries to promote business and transactions because now it takes a lot of time for people to come to Nigeria and go from Nigeria to Iran. For us to expand our relationship we need such medium but I am sure the matter is going to be one of the main points I will follow up. There is also the need to establish air transportation between the two countries. This, however, can only be economical if there are enough passengers on the route. I think with the negotiations we had with the our Nigerian counterparts there is going to be promising activities between both countries where we will have enough passengers going back and forth. Regarding the banking industry, unfortunately because of the sanction imposed on Iran, some of the Nigerian banks have cut their relations but we had central bank representatives as well as private and government bank representatives to contact the equivalent sector here in Nigeria to discuss and find a way to start and I  think Nigerian banks  can really do this and kick-start the process and do not need to worry about any international issues because several countries have banking relations with us and they have been cooperating throughout the sanction period and there is no problem at all.
You canvassed for trade centres to strengthen trade relations between the two countries, what form will it take and who will fund the construction of the facility?      
The centres for sure should be done by the private sector, the Chamber of Commerce has shown the interest and their representative was with us here and they are looking forward to find a building to start with until they construct a permanent building for this purpose. Of course the interest is Lagos because that is the commercial centre.
Is there commitment from the part of the Nigerian Government to provide land for the construction?   
There is no reason not to be positive. It is mainly investment that one of the private sectors should do.
What is the trade volume between both countries?  
At this moment it is not so good. We have two figures; one is official figure which is very low about 6 to 7 million US dollars but the actual figure is much more than this which I cannot say since it is not official because some of those goods that come here are re-exported from other countries and so it is not counted as our export to Nigeria and also from here to Iran we probably buy from the international market. We hope that the decisions we take at this meeting will change the condition of our trade relations because what is existing now is not realistic at all and the capacity of the twocountries is much more than this.
Iran is said to be the most politically stable country in the Middle East, what is your country doing to ensure peace in other parts of the continent?
Our country from the beginning of the revolution till now and in the last 35 to 36 years, has always tried to keep the peace in the region and you know we are the biggest peaceful country in the Middle East. Unfortunately because of some interferences from big powers, neighbors will always have problems but we always try our best to be cooperative to bring the peace in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, all the CIS countries including Pakistan. We always try our best to help to restore peace but unfortunately, the big powers always interfere. They promoted the problem in Syria but they were not successful but they are now putting their power in Iraq. So we have been cooperating locally and internationally in the affairs like the UN. Iran has always been against all terrorist groups supported by the US.
What is the effect of the sanction on Iran’s relations with other countries and on your economy?    
Of course any sanction can have effects, it all depends on how big it is. Recipients of sanctions always suffer but it doesn’t mean that we couldn’t do anything. In spite of the sanction, we have tried to pursue our own plans, we’ve done all the developments in science, industry, trade. Even European countries, we have trade relations with them but of course it affected us because the volume is less than it should be. First of all sanction doesn’t consider every fields of the area and on the other hand, not every country or company listens to sanction because it is against their interest as well. This is why now you see that 5+1 countries have reached the conclusion to try to stop the sanction and try to come to some reasonable agreements with Iran. Our desire is to end this case any how; it has affected both our countries and western countries.
Can you quantify the loss recorded by your country since the sanctions were imposed?
I don’t have figures but you can see the effect on the spiritual way of life, the economical and otherwise. I don’t think we have any figure yet probably after the sanction have been removed we can quantify our losses.
Nigeria is faced with security challenges lately, what is your country doing to assist Nigeria in this regard?  
Iran has suffered from the terrorist actions for many years and we are one of the first countries to face the problem in the Middle East by some groups backed by the super powers and that is why we have denounced them many times including that denouncement by our president at the UN that we are against any sort of destructive measures like the terrorist actions no matter how little it is government should not support it because it is against humanity and since your country has been going through this challenge, we have denounced through the diplomatic measures and international regulations and laws that we are against it and we hope and pray that your country comes to some calm situation as soon as possible. These actions are crazy. Unfortunately, sometimes they put Islamic words in it, like jihad, and so on but this is not Islam. Islam is the faith of peace, faith of Rahmah (faith of blessing). Beginning of Islam shows how the life of Prophet Muhammad (PUBH) was and what we read in the Quran is against it. How is it possible to take so many girls and children and keep them in captivity? We are against it totally.
Generally, how can you describe the bilateral relations between Nigeria and your country?    
We have good relations; good political will especially in the leadership of the countries but because of the lack of communication and information between both countries our economical relation has not grown up which was why I am here and why I am pushing the joint commission to find the way and means to cooperate in economic activities and there are a lot of opportunities.
What aspect of the Iranian economy should Nigeria business people focus on for investment?    
You know all countries have developed in industry and science and we have good experience in the last 20 to 30 years especially after the Iraq war, we have really put more efforts in the development of the country. So there are lots of opportunities. We have good engineering companies and manufacturing facilities. We can share these experiences with the Nigerian side for instance; we are one of the biggest car producers in the area. Some of them are finding means of getting their ways into Nigeria and even produce the cars here. We can also cooperate in housing, electrification, mining etc.
What did you enjoy most for the last few days you have spent in Nigeria?      
I really enjoyed the friendship of the people, although two days is a very short time to be a good judge. Nigeria is green and very beautiful.