Yesterday, Thursday, August 10th, Naledi Pandor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, received her Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Tehran has launched a diplomatic offensive to seek allies on the international stage and has found an ally in South Africa, due to the historical relationship between the African National Congress and the mullah’s regime in Iran. This year’s relations are particularly important for Iran as South Africa prepares to host the BRICS summit.
Last month, President Ebrahim Raisi visited Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe in Africa, and this week, he and the South African Foreign Minister called for multilateralism and transformation of international bodies.
The Strategy of Non-Alignment with Ukraine
For Naledi Pandor, the two countries also share a strategy of non-alignment in the war in Ukraine, despite accusations of Moscow’s use of Iranian drones, “Each of our countries does not take sides in this conflict. We recognize that the security interests of both sides must be taken into account and we believe that NATO member states therefore have a role to play in ensuring that there is a possible path to peace”.
BRICS Goal for Iran
While Iran’s relations remain tense with the West, with new sanctions, and Tehran has moved closer to China and Russia, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian for his part recalled his country’s desire to join the BRICS, “We hope that the Islamic Republic of Iran can benefit from the opportunity of an accelerated Brics membership process, with very strong support that we hope to receive from the government of South Africa. Sud as well as other members”.
Ebrahim Raïssi has already been invited to take part in the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, scheduled in two weeks, from August 22nd to 24th, where this question of the enlargement of the group will be at the center of the discussions.