Press Release
17 June 2013
President Zuma congratulates the President-Elect of the Islamic Republic of Iran
His Excellency President Jacob Zuma has today congratulated Mr Hassan Rouhani, who was elected as the new President of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 14 June 2013.
Mr Rouhani won more than fifty per cent of the votes, rendering a second round of voting unnecessary. He will succeed Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as President of Iran in August 2013.
President Zuma extended his congratulations and best wishes to President-Elect Rouhani and the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran and expressed the hope that relations between South Africa and Iran would be consolidated under his leadership.
In this regard, the President referred specifically to the Eleventh Meeting of the South Africa – Iran Joint Commission, which is scheduled to be held in Pretoria on 10 October 2013, as a mechanism to consolidate relations and to exchange views on international and regional developments.
The President also requested Mr Rouhani to give priority to resolving all outstanding issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as far as his country’s nuclear programme was concerned. Doing so would not only allow Iran to reclaim its rightful place in the international community, but it would also result in the lifting of international sanctions, which has caused immense hardships to the Iranian people.
For further information, please contact Mr Clayson Monyela, Spokesperson for DIRCO, on +27 82 884 5974
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
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