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(NEWZIMBABWE) Mutambara slams Tsvangirai over Iran

Mutambara slams Tsvangirai over Iran
by Lebo Nkatazo
28/04/2010 00:00:00

DEPUTY Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said the fight between Iran and the United States is not a matter for Zimbabwe as he criticised Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for snubbing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week.

Ministers from Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) boycotted the Iranian President, who officiated at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair last Friday.

The state-run Herald newspaper reported Wednesday that Tsvangirai had been “grilled” by cabinet colleagues from Zanu PF and Mutambara’s MDC party over his snub.

Tsvangirai, the paper said, told cabinet his ministers were “tied up elsewhere”.

Mutambara blasted: “Zimbabwe has no fight against Iran, Zimbabwe and Iran share a lot of history and tradition.

“We are both members of the Non-Aligned Movement and we have a history of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism.

“Iran went through a revolution in 1979 and was able to build a strong industrial base based on science and technology and energy, so there is a lot to learn from Iran and there is potential for increased trade between Zimbabwe and Iran.”

Mutambara suggested Tsvangirai had snubbed Ahmadinejad so as not to offend his friends in the United States government which is threatening new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

“As an African country, we have no business boycotting or going against other emerging markets such as Iran. The fight is between Iran and the US. We have no business participating in that fight,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“Even if we are beneficiaries of US generosity, and even if we want to be friends with the US, that should not compromise our independence and sovereignty. We must make our decisions without what the Americans tell us.

“The argument that Iran is a dictatorship should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. The US is friends with Saudi Arabia but it is not a democracy. It is friends with Kuwait but it is not a democracy.

“Hypocrisy and double standards are what define US foreign policy.”

Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, ZIMBABWE INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR

posted by MrK @ 4:50 PM