PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma will lead a high-level delegation on a state visit to Iran from Sunday to Monday.
The Presidency says the visit will serve to cement the strong fraternal relations between the two countries, which originated during the apartheid era when Iran "refused to oil the apartheid machinery and cut ties with apartheid South Africa".
Mr Zuma will be accompanied by various cabinet ministers and a high-level business delegation.
In 1994‚ with the advent of freedom and democracy in South Africa‚ Iran lifted all sanctions and the two countries re-established diplomatic ties. Since then‚ the two countries have enjoyed mutually beneficial‚ fraternal and strategic relations.
"The re-establishment of bilateral relations brought about an increase in trade relations between the two countries. The imposition of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran impacted negatively on trade relations between the two countries.
"At the end of 2011‚ South Africa imported one third of its domestic oil requirements from Iran‚ however by June 2012 South Africa could no longer import crude oil from Iran. Overall‚ South African exports to Iran declined from R1.27bn in 2008 to R270m in 2014‚" said Presidency spokesman Bongani Majola.
He added that the forthcoming visit was taking place during an opportune moment‚ following the strong momentum in bilateral relations‚ including the constructive outcomes of the official visit to Iran by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ the 12th Joint Commission meeting in Iran in May 2015‚ the sixth Deputy Ministerial Working Group visit to Iran in August 2015 and other high-level Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial visits to Iran and South Africa in 2015.
"Furthermore‚ the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran provides immense potential for closer commercial and investment co-operation between the two countries.
"The state visit of the president to Iran is an important structural catalyst in elevating bilateral and economic relations into a substantive strategic partnership and serves as evidence of the friendly relations between South Africa and the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on mutual respect‚" Mr Majola said.
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