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Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (R) stands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a parade in Bulawayo
The agreement was sealed last month during a visit to Tehran by a close aide to Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president who last weekend celebrated 30 years in power, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
In return for supplying oil, which Zimbabwe desperately needs to keep its faltering economy moving, Iran has been promised access to potentially huge deposits of uranium ore – which can be converted into the basic fuel for nuclear power or enriched to make a nuclear bomb.
“Iran secured the exclusive uranium rights last month when minister of state for Presidential affairs, Didymus Mutasa visited Tehran,” said a Zimbabwean government source. “That is when the formal signing of the deal was made, away from the glare of the media.”
Mr Mutasa is the former lands minister in the Zanu-PF administration and one of Mr Mugabe’s most senior aides.
The revelation came after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, visited Zimbabwe last week to show his support for Mr Mugabe. At a lavish official dinner in his honour on Thursday evening, Mr Ahmadinejad blasted what he termed “expansionist countries” for exerting “satanic pressures on the people of Zimbabwe”, adding: “We believe victory is ours, and humiliation and defeat is for our enemies.”
Mr Mugabe said both Zimbabwe and Iran were targeted by the West because they wanted to manage their own natural resources.
“We remain resolute in defending Zimbabwe’s right to exercise it sovereignty over its natural resources. We have equally supported Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy as enshrined in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty,” he said.
The uranium deal will heighten fears in the West that Iran is stepping up its nuclear programme, which intelligence agencies believe is intended to lead to the development of nuclear weapons in the near future.
Iran maintains that its efforts are aimed solely at providing energy but the United Nations Security Council is considering imposing harsher sanctions against it because of its refusal to allow proper monitoring of its nuclear sites. Mr Ahmadinejad has boasted of his country’s plans to step up construction and use of the special centrifuges needed to enrich uranium to ever higher levels – putting a nuclear weapon within reach.
Most of Iran’s uranium came from South Africa during the 1970s, but its stockpiles are running low, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt, so its access to Zimbabwe’s reserves has been granted at a crucial moment.
The government source added: “The uranium deal is the culmination of a lot of work dating back to 2007, when Mr Mugabe visited Tehran in search of fuel. Now Iran is beginning to reap the benefits.
“Iranian geologists have being conducting feasibility studies of the mineral for over a year now and we expect them to go ahead with mining once they are ready.”
A senior official at the Iranian embassy in Harare confirmed Tehran had been offered the uranium rights, after negotiations over many years. “After a lot of diplomatic work and understanding, we have received reports of a deal having been made for Iran to mine not only uranium but also other metals,” he said.
The pact seems certain to place Iran under even greater scrutiny by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“If Zimbabwe and Iran were to announce a deal, then I am sure it is something the IAEA would be very interested in,” said an IAEA source.
Any deal to supply Iran is likely to put Zimbabwe in breach of current UN sanctions on Iran. Under Security Council Resolution 1737, passed in December 2006, all countries are ordered to “prevent the supply, sale or transfer … of all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to Iran’s enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy water-related activities.”
The UN Sanctions Committee which deals with Resolution 1737 said that if the issue of uranium mining in Zimbabwe was raised, it would investigate.
Mr Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba insisted that mining rights had not yet been finalised, but he defended Iran’s right to apply for them.
“The Iranians have a peaceful nuclear program. This cannot be said about the Americans who mined uranium in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and went on to produce a nuclear bomb used to attack Japan,” he said. “We have our uranium and no one is mining it, until we decide otherwise,” he said.
Uranium was first discovered in the Kanyemba district, about 150 miles north of the capital Harare by German prospectors in the 1980s but were not exploited due to low world prices.
Russia, Australia, South Africa and Namibia are among nations that have also expressed a desire to tap into the mineral wealth.
The extent of Zimbabwe’s uranium reserves is uncertain, although some metallurgists believe that they may be very large. Initial exploration has indicated that there are an estimated 450,000 tonnes of uranium ore with some 20,000 tonnes of extractable uranium.
David Albright, founder of the Washington-based think tank Institute for Science and International Security, said that Iran was certainly looking for ways to access uranium but they risked serious consequences if they sought to import the materials.
“It would definitely anger Russia and China, as the more they are seen to be evading sanctions, the worse it is for Iran,” he said.
“There is a great deal of nervousness about Iran’s secrecy, and if they are secretly seeking uranium, is this to run a parallel nuclear programme to its declared one? Iran’s underhand dealings helps line up support for stronger sanctions.”
Postcript#
Iran’s foreign minister met the head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency on Sunday to discuss a nuclear fuel swap proposal that could help ease Tehran’s dispute with the West, Iranian officials and media said.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Iranian state television before his meeting with Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that their talks would be “decisive and detailed”.
Iranian officials in the Vienna delegation confirmed to Reuters the two men had met but they gave no more information.
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“The IAEA…can play a more constructive role,” Mottaki said in his earlier comments. “We believe the fuel swap can create multilateral trust.”
The meeting came just hours after The Sunday Telegraph reported that Iran had signed a secret deal with Zimbabwe to mine its untapped uranium reserves.
Has Mugabe considered a reactor in Zimbabwe? With a population of 12 million, it would cure perennial problems we have with electricity and allow industries to get back into gear including night shifts and other round the clock activity. All he cares about is lining his pocket and ingratiating those who only befriend him because they have no other friends.
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If he does that then the next thing is we will hear you guys complaining about nuclear activities, though what you are saying makes sense.The bullies wont allow us to solve our own problems without their input so that they are seen as Gods.
You are correct Abel. There will be an international outcry. However, what you describe as bullies are the people who bombed Syrian, Korean, Iran and have sanctioned numerous countries for dabbling in nuclear activities. If you consider that the existing travel restrictions are sanctions you haven’t seen anything like what will happen if the Iran/Zimbabwe arrangement is formalised. (Editor)
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Firstly I must say I am flattered that you continue to discuss with a CIO.
Having said that, I would like to confirm what you are saying that measures will be taken by the bullies and when those measures come, they know not that one is MDC or one is Zanu pf, it different to the existing sanctions where there is debate.Its a different ball game.In my view, that will have the effect of uniting the Zimbabwe people.
Persomally I dont support issues of nuclear, whether by the Americans themselves or the Iranians or syrians. If Americans have nuclear, why do they stop others? Its something I have failed to understand.
It’s called Non-Proliferation. The Chinese, Russian and the Americans are seriously concerned with this development. Using you CIO language, “there is serious Chatter over the links” , As to your observation on being unable to differentiate between people, It should not be a factor but when elephants fight……………………………………… (Editor)
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Despite the fancy wording, that non proliferation treaty basically says this: Ok guys we five are the big boys with Nuclear weapons, no one else can have those weapons without our permission and that means you have to be our friends. We will work towards getting rid of our weapons but in the meantime you are all sitting ducks and you are all at our mercy.You can not use nuclear for any means if you are not our friends.
funny that you mention chatter Dave, it simply proves what we have always said about monitoring links.We know that happens everytime, but when we do it, everyone wants to cry wolf, especially the naive ones without exposure.
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Batoka Gorge offers one of the best sites for a very green energy source, why would Zimbabweans from all walks of life encourage nuclear energy for Zimbabwe now especially when costs of installation and maintenance of nuclear power station are higher that hydropower station?
Nuclear energy has fundamental problems of extraction, storage, transportation and waste disposal to Zimbabwe and possiblity of contamination or ecological disaster is huge.
Did you hear of the German nuclear disposal system which they buried 700 metres underground several years back, they thought they had solved it all, but radiation is destroying the concrete bunkers and ground water is now sipping in and out resulting in contamination of the ecosystem and the critical gound water system.
The Americans cut huge mountain range to dispose or nuclear waste but numerous unexpected problems are coming up.
And with so much solar power potential available in Africa, why would we tailor-make our enegry solutions to the north which has its climatic limitations in open sky? It is called copying of inapplicable technologies by those who are lazy to formulate solutions that are tailor-made for their problems.
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I like that Mweni. the options are there and just waiting for exploitation…erm I mean exploration. the reactor disaster was in Russia, not Germany (Chernobyl, I think was the name)
Abel and the Ed, I wouldn’t go as far as to equate our push for a nuclear reactor to Iran’s and summise we would meet the same sanctioned fate. No. Let’s work with those detractors in building a reactor for industrial use. Iran is enriching their own fuel rods and the hoviyo arises in just how much enrichment will be done. We don’t even have the capacity to enrich ourselves and what we should pursue is how much it costs to build and run a reactor. then apply the costs to build and run one into how much we sell our uranium for. Simply put, if it costs 12 billion then get someone or a company to buy our fuel for the same amount or better yet, a design-build-operate contract in exchange for buying our fuel. Do you see Iran getting in on this deal? No way. All they want is our fuel for their own needs (which I won’t speculate on) So we will be receiving fuel rods only enriched to our needs with the full srutiny of those who would accuse us of weaponisation.
My point is we should stop this busioness of producing raw materials to be used by others and only recieving money,which at times doesn’t cover what we need. Same with the diamonds. We get into joint ventures with companies on a simple alluvial project. Alluvial! Can you imagine? No expensive mining, no water pumping required, no special air ducts, no healt hand safety worries (except for bullets from soldiers) but you still need a joint venture and receive a share when you can get everything and sell yourself. Come on guys, we are been exploited. If not the west then the Chinese or Russians but is it only exploitation when done by the west?
Yes..the IAEA would insist on inspections and verification. Unfortunately President Mugabe dislikes anyone inspecting anything in Zim. If he were to tread that path..ruin (Physical and Financial) would follow very quickly. (Editor)
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