Zimbabwe, which is under sanctions from the G7, is going to purchase Iranian weaponry.
Inputs that matter: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Iran-Africa International Economic Conference held in April.
- The 2nd annual conference had more than 40 African countries in attendance.
- Raisi stressed the importance of acquainting both parties with their shared capacities, particularly Iran's advancements in emerging technologies despite facing threats and sanctions.
- He highlighted Africa's potential in various fields, including emerging technologies, and called for developing cooperation roadmaps with defined timelines.
The opportunity: Zimbabwe introduced a new currency (ZiG) backed by gold on April 5, 2024.
- Zimbabwe has Africa's largest lithium reserves and is the world's sixth-largest producer and supplier.
- Chinese-owned companies have acquired Zimbabwe's most extensive lithium mining projects.
- China purchases more than 90% of Iran's annual oil production.
Zoom in: Responsible Statecraft reports that the European Parliament gave "A largely symbolic vote to reimpose nuclear sanctions after Tehran attacked Israel."
- The legislation refers to Iran's drone and missile attacks on Israel but not to the equally unprecedented Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which was the direct trigger of the Iranian strike in the first place.
- While the E3 is concerned with Iran's nuclear progress, and French President Emmanuel Macron hinted in the wake of the Iranian strike on Israel that pressure has to be increased on Tehran also on the nuclear file, to trigger a snapback of the U.N. sanctions would require a political agreement with Washington.
Between the lines: The social media account of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said: "See what is happening in the world. In Western countries, in England and France, and in states across the U.S. itself, people are coming out in huge numbers to chant slogans against Israel and America. U.S. & Israel's reputation has been ruined. They truly have no solution."
- Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called for a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters in the U.S. as law enforcement intervened on many college campuses nationwide.
- Toomaj Salehi, an Iranian rapper who recently received a death sentence for song lyrics, has previously said that Iranians "are living somewhere horrific. You are dealing with a mafia that is prepared to kill an entire nation to keep its power, money, and weapons."
Follow the money: To move away from the G7's use of the U.S. Dollar (USD), competing BRICS members China and Russia signed a trade agreement allowing them to use local currencies to settle commodities trades.
- Today, more than 90% of the nation's bilateral trade dealings are settled in the yuan or ruble.
- Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Tether, a cryptocurrency pegged to the USD, is used for oil export transactions to avoid having revenues frozen in foreign bank accounts.
- Iran will supply cars to North Korea in exchange for military technology.
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Read More
- https://www.plenglish.com/news/2024/04/26/zimbabwe-and-iran-discuss-bilateral-economic-relations/
- https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/497683/Iran-to-expand-ties-with-African-nations-President
- https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-25-2024/
- https://responsiblestatecraft.org/eu-iran-israel/
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/29/iranian-authority-undermined-after-death-sentence-for-toomaj-salehi-rapper-sparks-global-protests
- https://banananomics.co/zimbabwes_unique_new_money
- https://www.herald.co.zw/why-china-russia-are-moving-closer-to-iran/
- https://banananomics.co/how_the_us_dollar_is_losing_its_global_status
- https://twitter.com/IranObserver0/status/1784999006298394790