Hassan Rouhani met Ghanaian Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh who is visiting Tehran. Mr. Rouhani emphasized improving cultural ties with the African country given the common cultural grounds between the two countries and also preparing the grounds for private sectors to cooperate in other side of the borders.
“The superficial coalitions to fight terrorism has so far failed to defeat the evil phenomenon; all countries should cooperate in solving global issues and common challenges,” president told his guest. “Countries in the Middle East and Africa could establish a common environment where the attractions to recruit the young cohort to terrorist groups would effectively be ruled out; economic as well as cultural improvements in Middle East and Africa and cutting the paths by which terrorists receive money and other sort of supports are crucial in fighting and defeating terrorism,” Rouhani emphasized.
Hanna Tetteh, for her part, pointed to active terrorist groups in the mainland of Africa, notably Boko Haram in Nigeria and its affiliated group, and highlighted President Rouhani’s view of bilateral and multilateral cooperation to uproot terrorism; “apart from security issues in fighting terrorism, cultural and intellectual grounds of terrorism should be addressed properly, and I believe that we need to share mutual experiences two countries have of the phenomenon,” she added.
Tetteh called for more participation by Iranian companies in Ghanaian economy and urged promotion of bilateral ties; “both countries could exploit the current capacities for improving ties through establishing joint chambers of commerce and commissions in the near future,” she said.