Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 9
By Khalid Kazimov- Trend:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for the expansion of bilateral ties with South Africa.
"Tehran welcomes the expansion of ties with South Africa in all sectors," Iran's oil ministry news agency Shana quoted President Rouhani as saying at a meeting with South Africa's visiting Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in Tehran on Nov. 9.
President Rouhani also called for cooperation with Pretoria in the fight against terrorism, noting that Tehran was serious about this struggle.
South Africa's deputy president is visiting Tehran to explore opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector, with a view to attracting investments in a refinery Pretoria is planning to build, Cyril Ramaphosa's office said prior to his Tehran visit.
South Africa is considering building an oil refinery that will process Iranian crude to bolster its petrol supply and reduce its dependence on foreign companies.
Plans for the new refinery are still at an early stage, and the estimated cost or time frame for construction have not yet been made public.
South Africa has been diversifying its crude sources after the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Iran, its former top supplier.
The country's Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) has said it is seeking to import 24 million barrels of oil per year from Iraq to boost its reserves in what will be South Africa's first crude imports from Baghdad in more than a decade.