Iran’s Ambassador to Uganda Urges Uganda to Speak Out on US-Israel Strikes

Iran’s Ambassador to Uganda, Mr Majid Saffar, has called on Uganda to use its position as chair of the Non-Aligned Movement to publicly condemn the US-Israel military strikes on Iran, warning that the conflict is already pushing fuel prices higher worldwide and could eventually threaten stability in the Great Lakes region.

Speaking on NTV Uganda’s Morning at NTV programme on Thursday, days after coordinated strikes hit dozens of Iranian cities on Saturday, February 28, killing hundreds of civilians including approximately 200 children. Iran’s Supreme Leader was among those killed, he confirmed.

The ambassador said the attacks destroyed a girls’ school, hospitals, Red Crescent centres, residential neighbourhoods and power infrastructure across the country.

What made the timing particularly painful, Mr Saffar said, was that Iran and the US had been just one day away from finalising a new nuclear agreement through Omani mediators when the bombs fell.

“Just one day before the strike, mediators in Oman reported that a new comprehensive agreement was closer than ever. By choosing to bomb the negotiation table, the American regime has shown that it has no respect for international dialogue or the peace process,” he said.

Iran has since responded with missile and drone strikes against US military bases and other targets in the region, citing Article 51 of the United Nations Charter as the legal basis for its actions.

“Diplomacy must not be mistaken for weakness. The enemies of Iran may have initiated this war, but its conclusion shall be determined by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Mr Saffar said.

On whether Tehran would return to negotiations, Mr Saffar said Iran never left the table. He pointed to a pattern he said dated back to President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, as evidence that it was Washington, not Tehran, that kept walking away.

“We have been ready for negotiations. We didn’t leave the negotiation. This was the US and the Zionist regime that left the table,” he said.

Turning to Uganda specifically, Mr Saffar said the country’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, a bloc of more than 120 nations that advocates neutrality and diplomatic solutions in global conflicts, gave it both the platform and the responsibility to speak.

He also raised a warning he said East African countries should take seriously. The expansionist ambitions he attributed to Israel, which he said stretch from the Nile to the river, could in time draw the Great Lakes region into the crosshairs, affecting Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

Foreign nationals inside Iran have been assisted to leave as the strikes continue, he added. Iran has formally notified the UN Security Council of its military response.