The US newspaper “Wall Street Journal” published a report, citing intelligence sources, that the Sudanese army rejected an Iranian request to provide it with military equipment in exchange for granting Tehran permission to establish a permanent naval base on the Red Sea. According to the Sudanese official, Iran has offered to supply the army with a warship capable of carrying helicopters and helicopters if it agrees to establish Tehran’s military base on the Red Sea. The Wall Street Journal said Iran aims to monitor maritime traffic to and from the Suez Canal and Israel. According to the details reported by the newspaper together with informations by a senior Sudanese intelligence official, Iran unsuccessfully pressured Sudan to allow it to build a permanent naval base on the Red Sea coast.
These reports recalled the relations that brought the Sudanese army and Iran together since the outbreak of the current crisis in Sudan and the conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces led by Hemeti. This cooperation has been continuing for years, even coinciding with the Sudanese-Iranian break following the storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, until the return of relations this year, following the reception of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq, who arrived in Tehran at the head of an official delegation on the first visit of a Sudanese minister since the severance of relations between the two countries about eight years ago. He stressed the reopening of the Iranian and Sudanese embassies and the resumption of diplomatic duties of the ambassadors of the two countries, adding that this step is “important in the context of follow-ups to expand bilateral relations.“ Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said at the time: „A new page has been opened in the path of strengthening Iranian-Sudanese relations“, referring to the “consensuses and issues raised during the meeting between the presidents of the two countries on the sidelines of the summit of the organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League” hosted by Saudi Arabia in November.
During the past period, Iran has been eager to restore relations with Sudan due to taking advantage of Khartoum’s location on the continent, in addition to its view of the Red Sea and Tehran’s desire to control this unique location and the Sudanese regime, to exploit the tense situation in Sudan, while the Sudanese army aspires to continued military support from Iran, as Tehran provides it with drones, which gives it an opportunity to outperform the Rapid Support Forces in the battles in the country for many months.
Returning to the history of relations between Iran and Sudan, we find it fluctuating according to favorable political conditions, as Sudan supported former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in his war with Iran (1980-1988), but this did not last long, following the coup carried out by political Islam groups in 1989 and the consequent assumption of the leadership of the country by former President Omar al-Bashir. Sudan supported the Iraqi war on Kuwait, and the resulting severance of relations with the Arab Gulf states. At that time, the Sudanese army began to strengthen its military relations with the then IRGC.
At the beginning of 2012, Iran began to exploit Sudanese ports in order to send its ships, as it is an important strategic location on the Red Sea and Africa. In the 1990s, relations between the two countries witnessed new tension following Sudan’s expulsion of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden due to US sanctions, and conflicts increased in 2014 following Sudan’s closure of Iranian cultural centers under the allegation that they are accused of spreading the Shiite doctrine, together with Sudan’s desire to obtain the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to confront US sanctions, exploiting the severance of relations with Iran in order to win the friendship of these countries.
In 2015, Sudan participated in the coalition to support legitimacy led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to confront the Houthi militia in Yemen, while relations were permanently severed with Iran in 2016 after demonstrators stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, but these relations returned again, following the resumption of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and in November of last year, the chairman of the Sudanese sovereignty Council and the commander of the Sudanese army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, held a surprise meeting with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, on the sidelines of the Arab Islamic Summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia at the time.
Regarding the Iranian support to the Sudanese army following the outbreak of confrontations against the Rapid Support Forces, the media reported in January of this year that the Sudanese army received drones of the „Muhajir 6″ type from Iran and other financial support, out of a desire from Iran to win the friendship of an important ally on the Red Sea. But the importance of Sudan increased in conjunction with the October 7 attacks on Israel, the subsequent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and the Houthi attacks on shipping traffic in the Red Sea, which made Iran want to control this sites in conjunction with the control of Yemen by the Houthi militia. However, Iran has not supported the position of any of the parties to the conflict in Sudan.
While fears are growing among the Sudanese that the ongoing war in their country since mid-April last year will not stop soon, and it may turn into a “regional conflict” in light of regional and international external interventions, with accusations of Iran trying to interfere in the ongoing war in the country, while there are a significant number of important Sudanese ports overlooking the Red Sea, including Port Sudan, the main port in Sudan, next to Suakin and Bashir.
Mentioning the city of Butsudan, we return to the relations that brought Iran and Islamic groups together in this city, which contains a very important port, as the stronghold of the Sudanese army in the East is the most fertile area to accept the Iranian tide. The presence of the “Beja” tribes and their support for the Islamic Movement and the army are two of the most prominent factors that make Port Sudan a comfortable place and a good start to control the strategic port.
The relationship between Tehran and its old Sudanese friends is renewed. The emergence of political and military groups looking for a support, a supporter and an incubator. They may pave the way for the emergence of a common denominator among the “new allies” in Sudan.
It is clear that relations between Sudan and Iran are still at advanced stages in terms of judging the extent of their strength and the desire of both parties, especially with the possibility of Iran changing the helm of the party supporting it in Sudan, and choosing the Rapid Support Forces at one time because its commander, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, did not know the determinants of national security in the region, he did not study military and strategic sciences in the first place and obtained a high military rank with the support of Bashir, a former ally of Iran.
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