Official Visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran by H

Official Visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran by H.E. Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti

H.E. Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh President of Djibouti, during the time span of 2-4 December 2003 paid an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is accounted as the first ever bilateral official visit since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. During the visit, he conferred with Iranian high-ranking authorities, among them, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Grand Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, President Seyed Mohammad Khatami, and H.E. Dr. Kamal Kharrazi, Minister of Foreign Affairs. President Guelleh was accompanied by a high-ranking political and economic delegation, including five important Ministers of the Cabinet.

In the course of this historical visit, the two sides discussed and exchanged views on bilateral relations, ways to expand ties in economic, political, and cultural arenas, latest developments in the region as well as the situation in north of Africa. At the end of this visit, a joint statement signed between the two countries as follows:

Joint Communiqué
Between the Islamic Republic of Iran
and the Republic of Djibouti
on the Occasion of the Official Visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran of
Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti.

In view of consolidating the brotherly and Islamic relations that exists between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Djibouti and in view of strengthening the political, economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries.

At the invitation of His Excellency Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Excellency Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti accompanied by an important (high) delegation composed of many members of the government, paid an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2 to 4 December 2003 or (11 to 13 of the month of Azar of the Iranian calendar).

During the visit, His Excellency Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh was warmly welcomed by His Excellency Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and was also received by the Honorable Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

The President of the Republic of Djibouti and the accompanying delegation went to the Mausoleum of Imam Khomeini to lay bunch of flowers and pay homage to the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During the visit trade agreement and industrial and mining agreement were signed by the two parties.

Moreover a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Djibouti and the Iranian Red Crescent Society was also signed.

The two parties finalized a loan agreement to finance of the construction of Parliament and a commercial center which was signed by the Government of Djibouti and the Export Development Bank of Iran.

A joint communiqué was also signed by the Foreign Affairs Ministries of the two countries. The two parties also agreed upon financing, in the framework of the Iranian public development aid, the supply of equipment and other requests forwarded by the Government of the Republic of Djibouti.

The two Presidents of the Republics carried out fruitful discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues and agreed as follows:

Considering their strong common politics, the two parties agreed to strengthen their relation in the economic, political, cultural and international domains and wish to exchange more high-ranking delegations.

While appreciating the positive results acquired by the mutual visits carried out by their high ranking officials, the two parties emphasized on the application of the signed agreements and revealed the existence of considerable potential in their two countries. In this regard, they underlined the necessity to deepen and expand their cooperation more in other domains.

The two parties were engaged in the action of the importance of business relations in the development of their bilateral relations and demanded to expand more their economic cooperation in the public and private sectors.

Condemning the violent actions perpetrated by the Zionist regime against the defenseless Palestinian people the two parties expressed their support to the brotherly Palestinian people in their struggle for the liberation of their occupied territory and emphasized the inalienable right of the People of Palestine for self-determination, the return of refugees and the creation of an independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sherif as its capital.

Condemning the confusion between the acts of terrorists and Islam which tries to tarnish the image of Islam in the world, the two parties manifested their rejection of acts of terrorists which is considered as incompatible with the Islamic Sharia.

The two parties underlined the necessity of maintaining the territorial integrity, national unity and independence of Iraq and emphasized the necessity of the possible immediate evacuation of occupation forces in the country and the taking charge of all affairs by the United Nations, thus the transfer of the national sovereignty of the people of Iraq by means of free and democratic elections.

The two parties considered the creation of a Government Council as a positive step to put the Iraqi people in charge of their own affairs and the reestablishment of national sovereignty that constitutes a good base to put in place a permanent government.

The two parties insisted on the creation of a committee in charge of working out (drafting) a constitution for Iraq to facilitate the hand over of affairs to the local population.

The Djiboutian party welcomed the strategic initiative of H.E. Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, concerning dialogue among civilizations and cultures.

It considered the initiative like an effective means for alliance among different religions and cultures, thus for the maintenance of peace and security in the world.

In all moments under the respect of the principle of non-interference in the international affairs of countries the two parties rejected all efforts to create a unipolar system in the world and demanded the expansion of cooperation among countries in view of the development within the framework of south-south cooperation.

The two parties insisted on the development of activities and actions of organizations and regional authorities, like the Organization of Islamic Conference, the African Union and the Non-Aligned Movement vis-à-vis the issues and developments and called on the necessity of a very broad coordination within the organization.

The two parties congratulated the rapid establishment of the new institution of the African Union and reiterated the Central role of the African Union occupied in the continental efforts of the prevention and resolution of conflicts.

In this regard, they noted with satisfaction the progress accomplished within the set modalities of the Peace Council and the Security of the African Union.

The two parties also expressed their total support to the New Partnership for the African Development (NePAD) as a new proper African initiative based on real partnership between Africa and the international community. They notably underlined the importance of the private sector for setting and opening the projects and programs of NePAD.

The two parties emphasized on the obvious and inalienable right of all member countries of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to gain from the technology, materials and nuclear equipment for peaceful purposes.

The two parties confirmed that the constitution of the denuclearization of the region of the Middle East constitutes a good means for the establishment of confidence and the only obstacle at the end rests on the refusal of the Zionist regime to adhere to NPT, thus in the pursuit of nuclear activities outside the legal frame of atomic energy.

His Excellency Mr. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti thanked the Government and the Iranian people for their hospitality and extended an invitation to His Excellency Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to pay an official visit to the Republic of Djibouti.

His Excellency Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami accepted the invitation with pleasure. The date of the visit will be fixed by diplomatic channel.

The present communiqué was drafted and published on 2 December 2003 (11 Azar 1382 Iranian calendar) in Tehran in duplicate in Persian and French languages, the two texts being equally authentic.