"I have seen [a memorandum of understanding] to export uranium to the Iranians," Zimbabwean Deputy Mining Minister Gift Chimanikire told the British newspaper. The agreement, which was reportedly signed last year, is likely to cause alarm in Western capitals.

The US and the European Union have imposed crippling sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for peaceful energy uses but which they fear is intended to build a bomb. Zimbabwe is also subject to international sanctions over its human rights record and conduct of elections.

President Robert Mugabe, who won another five-year term in disputed polls last month, has publicly backed Iran's nuclear drive. Chimanikire is a member of Zimbabwe's opposition who is likely to be replaced now that the election has brought an end to the shaky coalition government. He said the uranium deal had been made without his knowledge, and was only known to a handful of people at the top of the government.