Arash Aramesh

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s African visit started yesterday April 22 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Ahmadinejad was warmly received by Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe whose country is suffering from a horrible economic crisis.

Ahmadinejad is bringing millions of dollars worth of investments for the Zimbabwean economy. The Islamic Republic pledged to build a tractor factory in Zimbabwe, equipment much needed for the country’s ailing agriculture. According to Press TV, Iran’s state-owned English news channel, Iran already pledged in March to defy international sanctions and export crude oil to Zimbabwe.

Aside from being able to badmouth the West together with Mugabe, it is unclear what Ahmadinejad is getting from this generous offer to invest millions of dollars of much needed capital in Zimbabwe.

Iran’s nuclear program and the mounting international pressure is probably one reason Iran has reached out to Zimbabwe, a country with notable uranium reserves and an anti-Western leader.

With the likelihood of new international sanctions against Iran increasing day by day, Iran is looking for a reliable source from where its appetite for uranium could be fed and where there is very little or no oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran’s generous investments in Zimbabwe coupled with Mugabe’s vocal support of Iran’s nuclear program are indicators that the Zimbabwean president has no objection to Iran’s enrichment efforts.

The only potential obstacle Iran faces in Zimbabwe is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition who forced Mugabe to form a coalition government with him. Not only did Tsvangirai not welcome Ahmadinejad to Zimbabwe, but he also said that Ahmadinejad’s trip to help the Zimbabwean economy was like “inviting a mosquito to cure malaria.”

With little executive power and no tangible influence over Zimbabwe’s coercive and intelligence apparatus, Tsvangirai will not be able to single-handedly stop any potential uranium deal with Iran, but he can act as a whistleblower, alerting the international community should such a deal take place.