The Iranian Embassy in Kenya made public their stand on bilateral ties between the two countries amid tensions with the US, in a press briefing at AMBank House in Nairobi on Wednesday, January 8, 2020.
The embassy called for the briefing in a bid to clear the air regarding alleged fears that the Islamic Republic of Iran would, in retaliation, strike allies of the US, Kenya included.
Addressing the press, Iranian Embassy Head of Politics Tohid Afzali stated that the two countries enjoyed a long-lasting friendship and were determined to preserve it.
Afzali clarified that the tensions between their country and the US would in no way spill over to Kenya.
"I want to send a message to all dear and admirable Kenyans, you are our friends, we wish all Kenyans long and prosperous lives," Afzali stated.
"We are here to improve our long lying relationship with Kenya, there is no relation between any Iran-US tension and Kenya," he reiterated.
The head of politics highlighted that their country received a lot of sympathy messages from Kenyans following the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani on January 2, 2020, through a US drone strike in Iraq.
Soleimani was the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was both the orchestrator and the public face of Iran’s regional operations.
On January 4, US Vice President Mike Pence alleged that the slain general was responsible for terrorist attacks in Kenya in 2011.
" (He) Directed IRGC QF (Quds Force) terrorist plots to bomb innocent civilians in Turkey and Kenya in 2011," Pence tweeted.
Responding to the allegations, Afzali questioned how the US would drag Kenya into a tension between the two countries.
"There is a difference between the Iranian government and civilians. We cannot kill civilians," Afzali stated.
"How can they link the Kenyan government and the Iran-US tensions?" he posed.
"We keep a good relationship with the Kenyan government and the tension between Iran and the US cannot overshadow that," the envoy reiterated.
