SA sets its sights firmly on Iran

As major global companies

rush to establish a trade hold

in Iran the South African

government, along with some

private sector players, is also

pulling out all stops to woo

the Middle Eastern country

as a trade partner following

the lifting of global sanctions

last month.

“We have an excellent

relationship with South

Africa, going back since 1994

when bilateral agreements

were signed,” said Mahmoud

Soroush, first counsellor

at the Iranian embassy in

Pretoria. He added that

the two countries had the

potential to cooperate in

“many areas”, and that in

past years this cooperation

had continued even during

the sanctions.

According to him, Iran

hopes that bilateral trade

volumes between the two

countries will return to

the levels last seen three

years ago. In 2012, before

sanctions were imposed,

Iranian exports to South

Africa stood at U$3.5 billion.

In turn, South African

exports to Iran fell from a

record R1.5 billion in 2007 to

R250 million in 2014.

Areas of interest range

from petrochemical

gas exploration and the

alternative energy sectors to

agricultural products and

clothing and textiles.

Ebrahim Deen, a

researcher at the Afro-Middle

East Centre, pointed out

that under sanctions South

Africa had still imported

about 30% of its oil from

Iran, although it had to be

routed through third parties.

Last year, South Africa also

exported about 13 tonnes of

gold, worth R6 billion, to the

country. Furthermore, South

African cellular, MTN, is a

49% shareholder in IranCell,

the second-largest Iranian

operator.

Deen predicts that an

emerging, consumer-driven

Iran – with a population of 80

million people – will become

an increasingly attractive

destination for outwardlooking

South African

companies.

“SA companies such as

MTN will now be able to

operate more easily in the

country, and other mining

and service industries will

begin showing interest in

the largely untapped Iranian

economy,” said Deen.

As soon as sanctions

against Iran began easing, the

South African government

sent several delegations to the

country to improve bilateral

relations, including the

high-profile visit by deputy

president, Cyril Ramaphosa,

in November last year.

INSERT

How accessible is Iran?

There are currently no direct

flights to Iran but there are

one-stop flights to the Tehran

Iman Khomeini International

Airport via Istanbul (Turkish

Airlines), Dubai (Emirates

Airlines), Doha (Qatar Airways)

and Frankfurt (Lufthansa).

Maersk Line is reportedly

looking into how and when

it can resume container

transportation services to

and from Iran, while the

Mediterranean Shipping

Company (MSC) resumed

services to Iran on New Year’s

eve and French shipping line

CMA CGM said it had resumed

Iran services last August.

CAPTION

Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa with the first vice president of the Islamic Republic of Iran,

Es’hag Jahangiri, at Jomhoori Palace in Tehran. Photo: GCIS