Most English language reporting on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s two-day visit to Niger at some point gives a nod to official denials by both Tehran and Niamey that the visit has to do with uranium.

from Reuters: 

Ahmadinejad said these plants [two new uranium mines and a milling plant in Iran] "will completely provide for Iran's needs" and that it did not need to buy uranium in Africa, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Niger Foreign Minister said uranium was not on the official agenda but might still come up.

“Even if Iran wants our uranium, the sale would need to be governed by international regulations,” Bazoum said. “Even if the question comes up, it will require a consideration of international laws.”

from the AP:

Niger’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Bazoum downplayed international speculation that Iran had come in search of uranium, saying: “I don’t think that’s the goal of the visit.”

Niger obeys international regulations on selling uranium, said Bazoum, who added that it would not be legal to provide uranium to Iran.

…

Ahmadinejad has said the country does not need to buy uranium in Africa, according to the semi-official ISNA news- agency.

However, the stars seem to align to well not to draw some sort of implicit conclusions from Ahmadinejad’s visit. Reuters and the AP point to Niger’s discontent with French mining company Areva, and the country’s wish to diversify beyond Areva’s stranglehold on Nigerien uranium production.

Reuters cites a Carnegie Endowment/ Federation of American Scientists report which is of the opinion that despite it’s new mines, Iran will need to rely on external sources of uranium for future nuclear projects.

The French language press seems more certain of the purpose of Ahmadinejad’s visit. An article on RFI, entitled “Au Niger, l’uranium est au centre de la visite de Mahmoud Ahmadinejad” leaves less to the imagination, stating that, “L’uranium sera sans aucun doute au centre de cette visite de 48 heures du président iranien au Niger.” It also claims that different Iranian regimes since 1984 have been trying to buy uranium from Niger without success, while and article from le Point cites only one attempt was made by Iran in 1984 to purchase uranium under Seyni Kountché. Both articles leave out any of the official denials made by Iran and Niger.

An article from Jeune Afrique adds another ‘coincidence’– that before flying to Niger Ahmadinajad visited Benin, from whose port of Cotonou Niger’s uranium is shipped.

However, all articles on Ahmadinejad's visit, from both the Enlgish and Fench-language press, omit the wider Nigerien context in which Ahmadinejad’s visit occurs. 

Yet it has been the topic of other articles. Sunday (April 14) the Washington Post published an article in its national security section describing Niger’s ascendancy as a “key US partner in anti-terrorism fight in Africa”. 

Mahamoudou Issoufou has gained a reputation as a democrat who, while having his scrapes with France over Areva, has sought to court the west in order to fund his generally well-regarded “Initiative 3N” development plan.

What I read into Ahmadinejad’s visit: I don’t know much about Iran, so I can’t really speak to their interests, but Niger is country with a fairly pragmatic government that is looking for all the help it can get, and if Iran has something to offer (scientific expertise, religious ties), Niamey will listen. The religious factor is interesting; one article noted that since the Iranian embassy opened in Niamey, Shiism has been on the rise. But I doubt the Nigerien administration is willing to break any international laws and risk becoming an international pariah in the course of its relationship with Iran.