Mugabe backs Iran's nuclear program

ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said Thursday he backed Iran's nuclear programme, which has raised the threat of new UN sanctions against the Islamic state.

"Be also assured, comrade President, of Zimbabwe's continuous support of Iran's just cause on the nuclear issue," Mugabe told Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a dinner in Harare.

"Because of the principled positions we have taken at both the domestic and international level, Zimbabwe and Iran have been unjustly vilified and punished by Western countries," Mugabe said.

"Today, both are victims of illegal and unjustified sanctions imposed by Western countries who seek to undermine our sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."

Iran's President Ahmadinejad arrived in Zimbabwe on Thursday for trade talks with President Mugabe.

Harare, Friday, AFP