Sudan Says It Will Resume Diplomatic Relations with Iran

Sudanese move past trucks in Shendi, 190 kilometers (120 miles) from Khartoum, on September 21, 2023. (AFP)
Sudanese move past trucks in Shendi, 190 kilometers (120 miles) from Khartoum, on September 21, 2023. (AFP)
TT

Sudan Says It Will Resume Diplomatic Relations with Iran

Sudanese move past trucks in Shendi, 190 kilometers (120 miles) from Khartoum, on September 21, 2023. (AFP)
Sudanese move past trucks in Shendi, 190 kilometers (120 miles) from Khartoum, on September 21, 2023. (AFP)

Sudan said on Monday that would restore diplomatic relations with Iran, seven years after they were severed and three months after a meeting between the countries' foreign ministers.

Sudan, currently in the midst of a devastating war, cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 following the storming of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran.

Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume ties in March under a deal negotiated by China.

The decision to resume relations "came after a number of high-level communications between the two countries and will serve their mutual interests", the Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement.

While there was no immediate statement from Iran, its foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said in July that the two countries were working on resuming ties after he met Sudan's acting foreign minister, Ali al-Sadeq, in Baku.



Iran Confirms Receiving 'Messages' from New Syrian Government

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
TT

Iran Confirms Receiving 'Messages' from New Syrian Government

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP

Iran said Saturday that it had received messages from the new government in Damascus following the ouster of its longtime Syrian ally, former president Bashar al-Assad, AFP reported.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is indirectly in contact with Damascus," Tehran's special envoy for Syrian affairs Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The diplomat said Iran had "also received messages" from Syria, but did not specify the intermediary country facilitating the communication.

Sheibani was responding to a question about recent comments by Syria's foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, regarding communications with Iran, according to IRNA.

"Our view of the developments in Syria and the restoration of relations with Damascus is forward-looking," Sheibani said, emphasizing that Iran was "thoughtfully" monitoring the situation there.

Iran, a staunch ally of Assad's regime, evacuated its diplomatic mission in Syria in December when opposition forces, led by current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, overthrew the government.

Sharaa said in December that Syria "cannot continue without relations with an important regional country like Iran".

He added that ties between Damascus and Tehran "must be based on respect for the sovereignty of both countries and non-interference in the affairs of both countries".

Iran had provided assistance to Assad during Syria's civil war, helping him claw back control of swathes of the country.

Sheibani, who previously served as Iran's ambassador to Syria, reiterated Tehran's position that the "future and destiny" of Syria must be determined by Syrians alone.

"The stability and peace of Syria are of particular importance to us, and we are against any foreign interference in the affairs of this country," he said.