Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attends the 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Heads of State (SCO) Summit via video link at the Office of the President of Iran, in Tehran, Iran, July 4, 2023. Iran鈥檚 Presidency/WANA (West Asia 好色先生TV Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
NAIROBI 鈥� Iran鈥檚 President Ebrahim Raisi received a red carpet welcome from Kenyan counterpart William Ruto on Wednesday as he began a three-country tour of Africa that Tehran has touted as a 鈥渘ew beginning鈥� in relations with the continent.
Raisi鈥檚 trip to Africa, which will also take him to Uganda and Zimbabwe, is the first by an Iranian president in more than a decade, and represents a bid to diversify economic ties in the face of crippling U.S. sanctions.
Iran stepped up its diplomatic outreach to developing world countries after then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched a nuclear pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.
In June, Raisi visited three Latin American countries to shore up support with allies also saddled with U.S. sanctions.
Iran鈥檚 trade with African countries will increase to more than $2 billion this year, its foreign ministry said on Saturday, without providing a comparative figure for 2022.
Raisi was welcomed by an honor guard at Kenya鈥檚 presidential palace before joining Ruto for a meeting, video posted on social media by Kenya鈥檚 presidency showed.
His trip to Kenya, East Africa鈥檚 economic powerhouse, will provide the two countries an 鈥渙pportunity to review and reenergize their bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries,鈥� Kenya鈥檚 foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Raisi is expected to next fly to Uganda to discuss trade and bilateral relations with President Yoweri Museveni, and then to Zimbabwe.
The last Iranian leader to visit Africa was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013.