[LINK] "Iran's African adventures"

[rfmcdonald]

IWPR's Ibrahim Gilani takes a skeptical gaze on the prospects for Iran becoming closer to African countries. The news from Senegal is surprising, inasmuch as Senegal seemed to be a major emergent partner.

Senegal broke off diplomatic relations with Tehran last month, saying it had evidence that separatist rebels in the southern region of Casamance used Iranian ammunition to kill government soldiers in a clash on February 21.

In December, Senegal recalled its ambassador but then sent him back to Tehran after saying it was satisfied with explanations given about an arms shipment seized by the Nigerian authorities last October.

When a ship that docked in Lagos and 13 containers labelled as construction machinery were found to contain Iranian weapons, the authorities there seized the freight, made several arrests, and reported the find to the United Nations as a breach of the Security Council embargo on arms purchases from Iran.

[. . .]

In Senegal, Iran has spent years investing in building schools, promoting Islam, laying roads and setting up a carmaking plant. Its ambassador in Dakar, Jahanbakhsh Hassanzadeh, had voiced hope that as economic ties grew, Iran would emerge as Senegal’s principal Asian partner.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should have formally inaugurated the car plant in January, but this did not happen because of the shipment scandal, and because he sacked his foreign minister, Manouchehr Motakki, while the latter was visiting Senegal in December.

[. . .]

Iran’s engagement with some of the smaller African states has been most marked at times when it is under pressure; it began when the country was isolated during the war with Iraq in the 1980s. Under the presidency of Ahmadinejad’s predecessor Mohammad Khatami, a special council was set up to foster these relationships. But despite a flurry of visits, Africa was not at this point a key target of political or economic interest for Iran.

With Ahmadinejad’s election in 2005 and an increasingly hostile international environment facing Iran, the race was on to reach out to make new friends, and they no longer had to be Muslim states or neighbours. The new president stepped up efforts in sub-Saharan countries, going on visits and inaugurating construction projects. A meeting of African Union foreign ministers even took place in Iran.

At a diplomatic level, most African states are members of the Non-Aligned Movement and many are part of the Islamic Conference Organisation, while economically, they are open to the kind of investment and trade Iran can bring.

Despite the surge in interest in African states, Tehran has failed to achieve decisive progress. Even though it has 27 embassies across the continent, foreign ministry officials have acknowledged publicly that many African states remain little-known.

[. . .]

Just minutes after parliament confirmed Ali Akbar Salehi in office as Iran’s new foreign minister on January 30, it was announced that he would be heading off to Ethiopia to attend the African Union Summit. But a few hours later, news came that the trip had been cancelled because the minister was too busy.

A London-based diplomat from an African country, who did not want to be identified, said this erratic behaviour exemplified the pattern of Iran’s wider relationships on the continent. In other words, hastily-made decisions, hesitation and a failure to follow through are nothing new.

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