Iranian-South African Relations

Iranian-South African Relations

South Africa	Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of South Africa maintain good relations, which mainly focus on economic cooperation.

During the Pahlavi dynasty , South Africa and Iran became important partners. South Africa took in Reza Shah Pahlavi in the 1940s, who was forced into exile by the British after his abdication. Reza Shah died there in 1944. When South Africa became increasingly isolated internationally because of its apartheid policy , it continued to receive support from Iran; Above all, Iran was South Africa's most important oil supplier. Large underground oil reserves have been created by South Africa in the event of an embargo. The Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi expanded relations between the two countries during a state visit to Prime Minister Balthazar Johannes Vorster . In the 1970s, South Africa supplied Iran with uranium substrates from its own mining operations. As part of the military cooperation, two Iranian destroyers were repaired in the port of Cape Town during the same period .

After the Islamic revolution , Iran, which in its new political orientation saw itself as the “protector of all the oppressed”, broke off relations with South Africa because of the apartheid policy pursued there. Oliver Tambo , ANC chairman in exile, was one of the first representatives to congratulate Ayatollah Khomeini on successfully coming to power as a result of the revolution against the Shah's regime. The African National Congress (ANC) was the only left-wing movement with which the young Islamic republic, which intended to support various resistance groups and freedom movements, wanted to establish cooperation.

In 1994, after the end of apartheid, the two states resumed their relations. The two countries are still important trading partners for each other; Iranian oil accounts for 40% of South Africa's imports. However, oil imports did not resume until 2000. Iran has expressed an interest in investing in South African refineries through its state-owned National Iranian Oil Company .

Zuma and Rouhani 2016

Since both states have experience with a nuclear program and have worked together in the past, South Africa tends to take the Iranian position when it comes to votes in international organizations on the Iranian nuclear program . South Africa sold Iran a large number of Rooivalk attack helicopters, which is viewed critically in Arab states.

The Deputy Foreign Ministers of the two countries reached an agreement on September 29, 2016 in Pretoria for the purpose of deeper bilateral cooperation on the basis of the South Africa-Iran Deputy Ministerial Working Group (DMWG). The Iranian Deputy Minister for Petroleum was a member of the negotiating delegation. These consultations intensified the broad cooperation intentions in the areas of trade, finance, energy, agriculture, mining, education, health, tourism, defense, infrastructure development, science, technology transfer and industrial production. Former South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma reformed and massively expanded relations with Iran. Internationally, she strongly advocated the view that primarily negotiations and not sanctions constitute the basis for future-oriented relations with Iran. These positions have found recognition within the international community of the African Union .

Web links

Commons : Iranian-South African Relations  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Bernard Hourcade: Géopolitique de l'Iran . 1st edition. Armand Colin, Paris 2010, ISBN 978-2-200-35116-8 , pp. 261 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Thembisa Fakude, Aljazeera Center for Studies: The impact of the South Africa-Iran relations on the African Union . Report from February 28, 2016 on www.aljazeera.net (English)
3. ^ ^{A b c} Luciano Arvin: Analysis: Iran and South Africa cement ties . on www.defenceweb.co.za (English)
4. ^ ^{A b c} Walter Posch: Between ideology and pragmatism: Basic lines of Iranian foreign policy . Ed .: Science and Politics Foundation . Berlin June 30, 2010, p. 2 ( swp-berlin.org [PDF]).
5. ^ Department of Foreign Affairs: Department of International Relations and Cooperation: South Africa and Iran take steps to intensify cooperation . News from September 30, 2016 on www.dirco.gov.za (English)