The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has welcomed the visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Ghana as part of his three nations African tour.
A statement signed by Nii Armah Akomfra, Director of Communication of CPP and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the CPP values President Ahmadinejad’s mission to explore with Ghana ways of strengthening Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as well as deliberation on issues of mutual interest.
President Ahmadinejad is the current Chairman of NAM, a position he assumed at the 16th NAM summit which took place in Tehran, Iran from August 26- August 31, 2012.
It said NAM was conceived by five world leaders including Ghana’s first President and Founder of the CPP; Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
NAM has 120 members and 17 observer countries which represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’ members and commands 55 per cent of the world population.
The statement said part of the CPP’s Foreign Policy Objective is to maintain and strengthen membership of the AU, ECOWAS and other organisations including NAM, pursue a foreign policy on mutual co-existence of states through bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements and promote South/South co–operation.
“It is also to be a major force in the fight against imperialism, neo-colonialism, neo-fascism, racism and all forms of oppression, in solidarity with oppressed peoples all over the world.”
It said Iran is the 18th-largest country in the world with a population of around 75 million and the citizens have the right to self determination, a right represented by their elected President.
The statement said the Persian Constitutional Revolution established the nation’s first Parliament in 1906 within a constitutional monarchy following a coup d’état instigated by the UK and US in 1953.
It said Iran gradually became a more autocratic country and growing dissent with foreign influence culminated in the Iranian Revolution, which led to establishment of an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979.