IRANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS KENYA

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000342 SIPDIS STATE ALSO FOR S/CT, AF/E AND AF/EPS STATE PASS USTR PATRICK DEAN COLEMAN TREASURY FOR REBECCA N. KLEIN COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL RIYADH ALSO PLEASE PASS DHAHRAN STATE PLEASE PASS USITC FOR ALAN TREAT, ERLAND HERFINDAHL, PHILIP STONE, AND RALPH WATKINS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON ENRG EPET ETRD IR KE PINR PREL EINV SUBJECT: IRANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS KENYA REF: 08 NAIROBI 002137 ¶1. (U) Iranian President Ahmadinejad arrives in Kenya on February 24th at the head of a delegation of over 100 government officials and private businessmen. Ahmadinejad's visit follows a flurry of reciprocal visits between high level Kenyan officials and their Iranian counterparts over the past six months that have focused on economic ties and trade issues. In a recent interview with a local newspaper Iran's ambassador to Kenya, Dr. Seyyed Ali Sharifi stated "It is a sensitive time in relations between our two countries, we want to escalate the level of relations." ¶2. (U) During this visit the Iranian and Kenyan leaders plan to sign several memoranda of understanding (MOU) on trade issues. These will reportedly include agreements to allow airlines of the two countries to operate direct flights between their respective capitals. Other MOUs will cover cooperation on energy, particularly oil, and post graduate training scholarships for Kenyan students. Iranian firms are already involved in several projects in Kenya, including construction of a hydro-electric power plant north of Nairobi and a gas power plant near the port of Mombasa, both by the Iranian company Farab. Another Iranian firm, Icon, has won a tender for construction of a road between the Lake Victoria port towns of Homa Bay and Kendu. Iranian pharmaceutical firms are also reported to have ambitions for making significant inroads into the Kenyan market. ¶3. (U) Kenyan exports to Iran, primarily tea, currently run about $55 million per year according to government figures. Iran exports petroleum products, carpets and chemicals to Kenya. While leading a trade delegation to Tehran in January, Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta was told that Iran hopes to expand the volume of trade between the two countries to $500 million per year by 2010. ¶4. (U) Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula has stated that he does not expect Kenya's relationship with the U.S. and other western allies to be affected by its growing ties with Iran. Wetangula told reporters, "Our friendship with country A is not to the exclusion of country B; every relationship has its unique factors and qualities. Our relationship with Iran is commercial." Regarding the ongoing controversy over Iran's nuclear program, Wetangula said, "Kenya has no problems with the advancement of knowledge in scientific fields and especially with regard to the development of nuclear knowledge for peaceful reasons." However, "...we don't believe that any country in the world, without exception, should possess nuclear weapons." ¶5. (U) We have weighed in with the Kenyan government to make clear U.S. views on Iran. ¶6. (U) Comment: With a large Muslim minority and major air, sea, land and electronic communications links to much of Africa, Kenya is an attractive entry point for Iran as it seeks to increase its commercial and political ties to the continent. Greater Iranian commercial, cultural and diplomatic linkages to Kenya are likely to be followed by similar strengthening of Tehran's ties to and influence in countries throughout eastern and central Africa. RANNEBERGER