Iranian president accuses west of promoting homosexuality

The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, visited Uganda on Wednesday as part of a diplomatic push to break the country's isolation.

In his speech, Raisi criticized western nations accusing them of promoting homosexuality.

“Having the culture of establishing and forming a family and at the same time the culture of “genuineness” is another common point between Iran and Uganda. We pay great attention to the issue of establishing families and we believe that it is a fundamental principle. The West is today trying to promote the idea of homosexuality and of course by homosexuality they are trying to end the generation of human beings and at the same time they are acting against the inherence and the nature of human beings I believe that this issue and these strong attacks by the West against the establishment of families and against the culture of the nations is another area of cooperation for Iran and Uganda", said Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Uganda has recently passed anti-gay legislation to widespread international condemnation.

The African visit is the first by an Iranian leader in more than a decade as the country continues under heavy US economic sanctions.