Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Zimbabwe's
foreign minister, said the sanctions - which prohibit member states from
providing Iran with raw materials that it could use to make a nuclear weapon
- were unfair and hypocritical.
He said that Zimbabwe, which is also the subject of sanctions over human
rights abuses perpetrated by President Robert Mugabe's supporters, would
benefit economically from the agreement.
A leaked intelligence report suggests Iran
will be awarded with exclusive access to Zimbabwe's uranium in return for
providing the country with fuel.
The report - compiled by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog - said Iran's
Foreign and Co-operative Ministers had visited Zimbabwe to strike a deal,
and sent engineers to assess uranium deposits.
Experts say the move contradicts Iran's claim that it now has enough domestic
uranium supplies to sustain its nuclear energy ambitions. They say
Zimbabwe's defiance of sanctions and its support for the pariah state will
scare those considering investing in its economy, which is only just
starting to recover after years of hyperinflation.
Uranium ore, or yellow cake, can be converted to a uranium gas which is then
processed into nuclear fuel or enriched to make nuclear weapons. The UN
imposed fresh sanctions on Iran last year after it refused to halt uranium
enrichment.
Zimbabwe's uranium stocks consist of an estimated 455,000 tons at Kanyemba,
north of Harare. One metallurgist with knowledge of the deposit said it
would take two to three years of development before it produced uranium and
it would be exhausted in about five years. Mr Mumbengegwi said: "Zimbabwe
has rich uranium reserves, but is faced with shortage of funds and does not
possess the technical knowledge and equipment needed for extracting [them]
... Any country has the right to use peaceful nuclear energy based on
international rules."
Mr Mugabe has previously dismissed as "illegal" the US and EU
sanctions that target him and members of his regime.
"Western states follow the approach of sanctions towards countries which
do not yield to their domination and act against their interests," Mr
Mumbengegwi, a member of Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party, said.
People close to the UN confirmed that Zimbabwe would be in direct
contravention of sanctions if it sold uranium to Iran, but admitted the
international body could do little to punish it.
Ben Rhode, a Research Associate at the International Institute for Strategic
Studies, said there would be concern about the deal internationally. "Iran
already has a guaranteed fuel supply from Russia for the lifetime of its
Bushehr power reactor," he said. "It is therefore difficult to
understand the peaceful, commercial nature of such a procurement."
Judy Smith-Hohn, of South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, said Mr
Mugabe's Movement for Democratic Change partners in Zimbabwe's fragile
coalition, could veto the deal. "Because the world is looking the other
way, towards events in North Africa, the Zimbabwean authorities are testing
the boundaries and this is most likely part of it," she said.
