( IRNA ) - Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Iran is ready to contribute into settlement of disputes in the African continent.
Mottaki told his Uganda counterpart Sam Kutesa that Iran has put forward initiatives to solve problems in Africa.
The Iranian foreign minister's remarks come ahead of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Sudan on Wednesday at the head of a delegation to talk with senior Sudanese officials on issues of mutual concern.
The minister said Iran is ready for cooperation with Uganda in industrial, oil, gas, tractor manufacturing and development fields.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Mottaki said Iran wants immediate withdrawal of occupying forces from Iraq and restoration of stability and security there, sparing no efforts in that connection.
As for Palestine, Mottaki said, "We have always been stressing unity among Palestinian groups and want a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction."
Kutesa for his part thanked Iran for its interest in expansion of cooperation with Africa and hoped economic and commercial cooperation between Iran and Uganda would further expand.
He said the two countries' cooperation in farming, tractor manufacturing and assembly, energy, industries and technology transfer are growing.
He stressed Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy and said Uganda government and people strongly condemn any unilateralism.