Iran president in Uganda today 

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is expected to arrive in Uganda today for a two-day visit. During his visit, Mr Raisi is expected to meet with Mr Museveni to discuss trade treaties, among others. 
Trade between Uganda and Iran has continued to drop due to international and Western economic sanctions to as low as Shs40b annually.

In 2022, President Museveni, while meeting Dr Mahdi Safari, the then Iran deputy Foreign minister in-charge of economic diplomacy at State House Entebbe, proposed engaging in barter trade with Iran to be able to evade the tight international and Western sanctions.  
“Uganda has got a lot of goods, including fresh products which Iran might be interested in and the two countries can exchange them in barter trade without going through the dollar,” President Museveni said then.

On Monday, deputy Presidential Press Secretary Faruk Kirunda said in a statement that the two leaders will hold bilateral talks at State House Entebbe and later on attend a business forum at Al-Mustafa University at Kyengera, a city suburb.
Mr Kirunda said President Raisi’s visit is “aimed at strengthening cooperation and trade between the two sister countries.” 

Despite the Western countries’ attempt to use their diplomatic and economic powers to isolate Iran over its nuclear development, President Museveni has maintained a cordial relationship with Tehran. 

President Museveni has visited Iran several times and three Iran Presidents have also visited Uganda, with the first being Mr Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in 1996.
In 1996, President Museveni and his Iranian counterpart signed agreements on trade, telecommunication, fisheries and veterinary sectors. 
President Rafsanjani’s visit led to the establishment of an Iranian chargé d’affaires in Uganda a year later and an embassy in 1998.
 
President Museveni too visited Tehran, Iran, and met the then Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, where they agreed on establishing an air link between the two countries. However, the project didn’t materialise. 
In January 2005, President Khatami visited Uganda, also to boost economic ties with Uganda.
Four years later, President Museveni visited Iran where he invited Iranian investors to build an oil refinery in Uganda. 

The next year, the then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Uganda amid protest from the US government and its allies, who were key funders of President Museveni’s government and Uganda’s Defence ministry. 
Iran agreed to build a medical centre for the Uganda Police Force at Naguru and also train their officers. 

Many Western countries stopped funding the Uganda Police Force after the Iranian deal.  
In 2012, President Museveni visited Iran twice.