Sudan… Normalization with Iran Raises Concerns of Making the Country a Platform for Its Operations
Amid escalating regional tensions and developments, and after several months of fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces that depleted most of Sudan’s resources, the government formed by the Sudanese army has begun arrangements to fully normalize its relations with Iran.
After a hiatus of over eight years, Sudan resumed its relations with Iran with the visit of Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq Ali to Tehran in early February 2024. After close ties with Tehran during the reign of former President Omar al-Bashir at the expense of Arab countries, especially Egypt and Saudi Arabia, relations began to deteriorate between the two countries since 2016, when Sudan was under the weight of US sanctions due to the former Bashir regime’s support for Islamists, including the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, along with its strong ties with Iran. The visit of the Sudanese minister to Iran raised questions about the nature of cooperation between the two countries, especially in light of Western reports about Tehran arming the Sudanese army led by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is waging war against the Rapid Support Forces led by Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemeti.
Analysts consider the direction of the government formed by the Sudanese army towards normalizing relations with Iran as part of the army’s efforts to lean on new allies as the war with the Rapid Support Forces continues.
In return, normalization, according to analysts, opens the door for Iran to expand its influence in the African continent along the Red Sea coast, opposite areas of Houthi influence in Yemen loyal to Iran, as well as to benefit in the future from Sudan’s wealth, especially uranium.
Observers assert that the normalization of relations between Sudan and Iran raises concerns not only within Sudanese circles but also among Gulf countries and the United States, which fear Iran’s expansion in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa region, which has become, alongside most regions in the Middle East and North Africa, an arena of regional and international competition.
