Iran has signed a series of co-operation pacts with the impoverished Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros, which is struggling to revamp its economy after years of political upheaval.
The four agreements were concluded this week as the islands' new president, Iranian-trained Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, known as the "ayatollah" for his Iranian education, seeks to improve ties with Islamic nations, officials said.
In the first visit to the overwhelmingly Muslim Comoros by a high-level foreign delegation since Sambi's election in May, a senior Iranian team inked pacts in the agriculture, education, health and defence, they said.
Iranian Agriculture Minister Mohammad Reza Eskandari signed an agreement with Moroni on Friday to boost Comoros' agricultural output, which is dependent on dwindling clove and vanilla exports.
"Comoros has an enormous agricultural potential, we are sure that with our help we can increase agricultural production in all sectors," Eskandari told a press conference.
Eskandari also said Tehran would give Comoros three fishing boats to help the local industry produce catches for export. Educational scholarships would be offered to local students, university campuses established and a hospital built on the island of Anjouan, he said. No details were given about the defence pact.
Convulsed by near-constant coups since independence from France in 1975, the islands' economy has languished but Sambi's government has vowed to turn the situation around.
Nearly half the population lives in abject poverty, with the annual gross national product estimated at only 450 dollars (354 euros) per person, according to the United Nations.
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