In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced the decision was made following the meeting between high-ranking Iranian officials and their Gambian peers in recent years and negotiations between the African country’s Foreign Minister Mamdou Tangara and Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri in Tehran.
The two top diplomats decided to announce the restoration of diplomatic ties on July 29, 2024 in order to preserve the interests of both nations, says the statement.
It adds the two governments agreed to expand friendly relations based on mutual respect, equality and common interests and bilateral cooperation in all spheres, including political, economic, investment, trade and cultural fields
In order to speed up the process of putting the rapprochement into practice, it was decided that the embassies of Iran and Gambia in Dakar act as a channel for diplomatic contact and coordinate and take appropriate measures to that end.
Gambia severed diplomatic and economic relations with Iran on November 23, 2010. The Islamic Republic attributed the action to pressure from the United States.
