The Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Zimbabwe, Mr. Hamid Bakhtiyar, has today met with the Director for Presidential and National Scholarships in the Office of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Mr. William Taringa, at the presidential offices in Harare.

In the meeting held in the presence of the department’s deputy director, Mr. James Mubonderi as well as the Desk Officer for the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Ms. Rosemary Kasimba, Mr. Bakhtiyar said the Islamic Republic of Iran was willing to offer an unlimited number of scholarships to the most talented and qualified Zimbabwean students in the fields of engineering and medicine, among other areas of study. He said the visit to Iran by Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Dr. Auxillia Mnangagwa last year opened new doors of cooperation with some of the results being the offer of full scholarships to Zimbabwe by the government of Iran.

He said Iran felt honoured to be engaging the Office of the President of Zimbabwe in such an important matter of national interest to both countries.

Mr Bakhtiyar furthermore gave an overview of the Iranian university education system, noting that Zimbabwe stands to benefit from the wealth of knowledge that the government affiliated universities in Iran possesses and is ready to disburse to the Zimbabwean students.

He said Zimbabwe and Iran share a common problem, which is the United States of America, a country that has imposed sanctions on both countries.

The Cultural Counselor expressed his deepest regret and sadness at the heinous acts being perpetrated by the evil regime of Israel on the people of Palestine. He said the bombing of the hospital in Palestine that killed hundreds of Palestinian children is a classic case of the brutality by the Israeli regime. In response, the director, Mr. Taringa, gave a rundown of the historical relations between Zimbabwe and the Islamic Republic of Iran that dates back to time immemorial.

Mr. Taringa noted that Zimbabwe has benefited immensely from previous scholarships offered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that the students are back into the country where they are contributing to the national development of the country. He said in the past, Iran offered Zimbabwe scholarships in Education, Sciences, Agricultural Development and Security.

He welcomed and appreciated the offer for fresh scholarships and hoped that something great and meaningful would be realized from the scholarship deal. The Director observed that apart from Iran, Zimbabwe has also been a recipient of scholarship from Malaysia, India, Algeria, Indonesia and Cuba, among others.

He said the Presidential Scholarship programme was started by the late former president, Mr. Robert Mugabe in 1995 when he realized that there were quite a number of under privileged students from poor backgrounds who were failing to acquire university education. Mr. Taringa said the programme has since evolved to become one large department that it is today.