Mugabe signs secret deal to sell uranium to Tehran
Jerome Starkey, Jan Raath, Michael Evans, Hugh Tomlinson, Times, Aug 10 2013
Zimbabwe’s Government has signed an agreement with Iran to sell raw materials for a nuclear weapon in direct breach of international sanctions, a senior government official has told The Times. The move by Harare and Tehran is expected to provoke international outrage because of the attempt to circumvent punitive Western sanctions imposed on the two regimes. Gift Chimanikire, the Zimbabwean Deputy Mining Minister, said that a memorandum of understanding had been signed to export uranium to Tehran, despite warnings from Washington of serious “ramifications” if such a deal went ahead. The minister said that Zimbabwe had struck the deal last year because sanctions imposed by the West, which banned international trade with its state-owned mining companies, had forced the cash-strapped regime to look elsewhere. “Mining is Zimbabwe’s ticket,” he said.…
Report: Zimbabwe agrees to sell uranium to Iran
AFP, Aug 10 2013
Zimbabwe has signed a secret deal to supply Iran with the raw materials needed to develop a nuclear weapon, in breach of international sanctions, The Times reported on Saturday. “I have seen a memorandum of understanding to export uranium to the Iranians,” Zimbabwean Deputy Mining Minister Gift Chimanikire told the British newspaper. The agreement, which was reportedly signed last year, is likely to cause alarm in Western capitals. Pres Mugabe, who won another five-year term in disputed polls last month, has publicly backed Iran’s nuclear drive. During a visit by Iran’s then-Pres Ahmadinejad to Harare in Apr 2010, Mugabe said his guest should be assured of “Zimbabwe’s continuous support of Iran’s just cause on the nuclear issue,” and reports emerged that year of a uranium deal between the two nations. However, Mugabe has also gone to lengths to deny his country is supplying Iran with uranium. In 2011, an intelligence report from a member country of the IAEA shared with the AP by an official from that nation said that the Iranian foreign minister at the time, Ali Akbar Salehi, had met secretly with senior Zimbabwean mining officials “to resume negotiations for the benefit of Iran’s uranium procurement plan.” Chimanikire is a member of Zimbabwe’s opposition who is likely to be replaced now that the election has brought an end to the shaky coalition government. He said the uranium deal had been made without his knowledge, and was only known to a handful of people at the top of the government. Despite the agreement, The Times reported analysts as saying that it was likely to be a long time before Zimbabwe’s uranium reserves were ready for export. ast week, Iranian Pres Rohani said Iran is prepared to enter “serious and substantive” negotiations on nuclear issue. He added that confident concerns of both sides regarding the nuclear issue can be removed in a short time. The solution to the nuclear issue, Rohani stressed, could be reached “solely through talks, not threats,” noting he was “seriously determined” not only to resolve the nuclear issue, but also to preserve Iran’s rights, among them the “undeniable right” to enrich uranium, and address the other side’s concerns.
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe reportedly signs uranium deal with Iran
Times of Israel, Aug 10 2013
The government of Zimbabwe signed an agreement with Iran to sell materials for its nuclear weapons program, according to a report in the British newspaper The Times published Saturday. The deal for the sale on uranium deposits was reportedly signed last year and is in direct contravention of international sanctions imposed on both Tehran and the Mugabe government. Secret negotiations between the two countries have been ongoing for more than two years, according to the report. Zimbabwe’s long-time president Robert Mugabe, who recently won a seventh term in office, albeit contested, has described Tehran’s quest for nuclear power as a “just cause.” In 2010, Mugabe prompted speculation of the deal when he welcomed Iranian then-Pres Ahmadinejad to Zimbabwe. Ahmadinejad said during the trip that Iran could find like-minded leaders in Africa who were also facing problems with the West. Zimbabwean Deputy Mining Minister Gift Chimanikire is quoted by the newspaper as saying that a memorandum of understanding was signed, despite warnings in 2011 by the US of “ramifications for countries that decline to observe their international obligations.” Chimanikire added that only a handful of people at the top of the African country’s government knew about the deal. Chimanikire also explained that because of the sanctions, which included the ban of international trade with Zimbabwe’s state-owned mining companies, Zimbabwe had to look elsewhere for financial reasons. “Mining is Zimbabwe’s ticket,” he said. The country’s uranium reserves, estimated at 45,000 tons, are said to be mixed with other minerals and groundwater, making extraction costly; an assessment that has led analysts mentioned in the report to claim that it could take a long time before the minerals are ready for export and that Zimbabwe was simply trying to keep its options open in the meantime.
Niqnaq 