Looking back at the last decade, Iran has improved relations with African countries by turning to them for investment and trade as it has become more isolated by the West.
In Africa, Iran has engaged in economic and development projects in a number of countries: in Senegal where Khodro, Iran’s largest car manufacturer, opened an assembly line in 2007; Nigeria with which it has agreed to share nuclear technology for the production of electricity; and it enjoys good relations with South Africa (a regional leader) where its support of the ANC during the apartheid era has meant that South Africa has remained a true friend.
However, nowhere is the success of Iran’s investment quite as clear as in Sudan. “Iran has been successful in strengthening ties with Sudan because the two countries have an ideological link. They are standing up against the West and imperialism,” Sanam Vakil, an expert on Iran at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, told Deutsche Welle.
Why Africa matters to Iran
As a result of its isolation from the world (particularly the West), Iran has had to turn to Africa in an effort to gain more relevance in global affairs.
“By strengthening its relationship with African countries, Iran is trying to overcome its de facto isolation,” Walter Posch, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, told Deutsche Welle.
Vakil agrees: “Iran is always trying to expand its areas of diplomatic and economic influence to counterbalance against its own isolation,” she said.
In spite of all its efforts, Iran’s success at extending its influence in Africa remains unclear, “perhaps with the exception of Sudan where there are Iranian cars,” Posch said.
With a reduction of military aid from China and Russia, Sudan two years ago turned to Iran for help and signed a bilateral agreement that includes military cooperation with the country. At a meeting late last year with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, his Sudanese counterpart, Deng Alor, openly voiced his country’s support for Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Israeli concerns
Iran’s nuclear ambitions are a threat to stability in the Middle East, and naturally its progress in Africa is being closely watched by Israel. In addition, Israel wants to counterbalance Iranian and Islamic influence in Africa, especially in the Horn of Africa which has a coastline with the Red Sea – a gateway to the Suez Canal. Therefore, Israel has tried to establish friendly ties with the only non-Islamic county in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, which has also used Israeli military aid to counter Islamic militants in the southeast region which borders Somalia.
Israel sees Iran’s inroads in Africa (especially in Sudan) as a threat to its ability to garner African support at the UN, and also as a threat to regional stability in the Horn of Africa because Iran’s advances contribute to the growth of Islam in the region.
In an attempt to counterbalance that perceived threat, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria in September 2009, and pledged Israel’s support for these countries by promising development and economic aid.
Europe turns a blind eye
By and large, Iran’s efforts at establishing better relations with African countries have remained largely ignored by the EU.
Javier Perez, the EU’s political advisor for Sudan told Deutsche Welle that “Sudan is a high priority of the EU foreign policy in Africa, but the interest of Iran in Africa is not being followed as of yet.”
According to Posch, Europe’s current stance may be due to the fact that Iran’s trade and economic cooperation with Africa pales in comparison to that of other countries like China, the US, and some European nations.
Neverthless, Johns Hopkins University Researcher Vakil feels that “the Europeans should be watching this because it is happening in Europe’s backdoor.”
A week ago, on February 22, several Ethiopians joined tens of thousands Eritreans at the worldwide protest rally against the UN sanction against Eritrea.
The sanction was a plot concocted by the Woyanne regime lobbyists in the U.S. headed by Ambassador Susan Rice. When Ambassador Rice and other corrupt officials at the State Department had failed to get a bill passed through the U.S. Senate labeling Eritrea a terror-sponsoring state, they brought together some puppet African dictators such as Museveni of Uganda to push a resolution through the U.N. that accuses Eritrea of providing weapons to Somali Islamist group al Shabab without offering an iota of evidence.
In fact, a UN special envoy accuses Woyanne, the ruling tribal junta in Ethiopia, of selling weapons to al Shabab and others in Somalia.
The real reason behind Woyanne’s campaign to have the U.N. impose sanction against Eritrea is that the Eritrean people and government have been providing moral and political support to Ethiopian freedom fighters such as Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front (EPPF). The hidden purpose of the sanction is to eliminate any opening for EPPF and others to operate in Ethiopia. Therefore, the U.N. sanction is indirectly imposed on Ethiopia so that the Woyanne regime is free to pillage and plunder the country without any serious opposition.
Ethiopians are well aware of this fact and EPPF chapters around the world held an emergency conference on January 3 to take a stand against the sanction, and to also show their solidarity with the people of Eritrea. They passed a strong resolution condemning the sanction.
Feb. 22 provided another opportunity for Ethiopians to stand in solidarity with Eritreans. The unintended consequence of the Woyanne-Rice UN sanction is that it has brought the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea more closer than ever.
When I and other Ethiopians who reside in the Washington DC metro area arrived in front of the White House, where the protest rally was being held last Monday, Eritreans were out in thousands already. The Eritreans, who arrived from several states in the east coast of the U.S., greeted us warmly and enthusiastically. When a large Ethiopian flag unfurled in the middle of the crowed, Eritreans cheered loudly in an expression of appreciation.
After witnessing the excitement with which the Eritreans received us, I knew there and then that we were making history. For the first time since the Woyanne junta took power, I started to see light at the end of the tunnel for bringing change in Ethiopia and the whole Horn of Africa region, which has been made a perennial war zone by the Woyanne warlords.
The reaction by Woyannes to such solidarity with Eritreans is as expected. They were foaming at the mouth in condemning us for standing with Eritreans. I don’t blame them — such solidarity will cause their demise and they more than any one else are aware of it.
Those of us who advocate Ethiopia-Eritrea solidarity are the prime target of Woyannes. They are coming at us from every direction. So when Ethiopian Review’s server crashed right after the Feb. 22 protest rally under mysterious circumstances, I became suspicious. The web site’s massive database completely disappeared without a trace. We are investigating the cause. Fortunately, anticipating such an incident, we have been keeping back ups of all Ethiopian Review files at multiple locations and we were able to bring most sections of the web site back online in a couple of days.
The alliance of Ethiopians and Eritreans should not be allowed to be derailed by Woyanne or any one else. There is a lot at stake for the people of both nations. As long as Ethiopian Review is up and running, it will continue to be a leading advocate of such collaboration and solidarity, which will lead to the liberation of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa from a parasite called Woyanne.
Former members of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (Woyanne) led by Seye Abraha are preparing to challenge those in power led by Meles Zenawi in Woyanne’s own turf — Tigray. J. Sirak of opride.com reports the following:
TPLF finds itself having to defend its home turf, the Tigray region, in the upcoming elections. Medrek, a coalition of eight opposition parties, is going after the big names. Despite a growing anxiety about TPLF’s use of force to rig the election, the opposition is fielding candidates in the ruling party’s strong hold areas.
* Seye Abraha a former TPLF politburo member is running in Qola Tembein.
* Gebru Asrat, the former president of Tigray State and chairman of Arena Tigray is running for the parliament seat in Mekele.
* Asgede GebreSelassie, one of the leading TPLF founders, is running against Abay Tsehaye, TPLF’s Minister of Federal Affairs and National Security Advisor to the PM. Abay Tsehaye, was elected to the House of Peoples Representatives from Selekleka in 2005.
* Aregash Adane, the top woman during the TPLF struggle and one of the most revered fighters will run in Adwa against Meles Zenawi. This is a key post because at the event Meles loses the parliament seat, according to Ethiopian constitution, he cannot stand for the Premiership post. Article 73 of the constitution states that the Prime Minister “shall be elected from among members of the House of Peoples’ Representatives”. Reliable sources also tell Opride.com that Mr. Zenawi might run in Addis Ababa.
* Arena Tigray also announced that it will field candidates in 34 of the 38 constituencies in Tigray. The remaining four seats will be contested by Tigreans in UDJ.
Yet despite such interesting strategic moves by the oppositions, it’s inconceivable to think that the TPLF will allow the opposition to pick limited seats in Tigray, let alone win majority.
EthiopianReview.com’s server had crashed on Tuesday morning causing the site to be down for the past three days. We have been working feverishly to fix the problem. We lost 4 days of data, and we are yet to restore the Forum and other sections of the web site. For now the front page is partially up and Top Stories section is also functioning now. All the other sections will be restored shortly.
On behalf of my colleagues at Ethiopian Review, I would like to thank those of you who sent us emails expressing your concerns and best wishes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Also remember that a special envoy to the U.N. reported (read here) that much of Al Shabab’s weapons are being bought from Woyanne and Uganda military commanders in Somalia with the full knowledge of U.S. Department officials. The U.S. Congress needs to investigate this corruption and force the State Department to clean up its acts.
ABU DHABI (Reuters) – The international body fighting money laundering and terrorist financing on Thursday blacklisted Ethiopia, Iran, Angola, North Korea, and Ecuador as posing risks to the international financial system.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), comprising governments and regional organizations named the countries after a meeting in The United Arab Emirates’ capital Abu Dhabi.
Publication of the blacklist follows promises by the Group of 20 major economies last year to crack down on the problem, calling on the FATF to identify “uncooperative jurisdictions”.
Iran has been named as a jurisdiction where risks emanate due to the ongoing and substantial money laundering and terrorist financing, the FATF said in a statement, urging member countries to apply counter measures against Iran to protect the international financial system.
“The FATF remains particularly concerned about Iran’s failure to address the risk of terrorist financing and the serious threat this poses to the integrity of the international financial system,” the statement said.
Angola, the People’s Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador and Ethiopia have been named as jurisdictions that have not committed to the FATFs action plan and the international anti-money laundering/countering terrorist financing standards.
Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Sao Tome & Principe are jurisdictions that continue to have anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing deficiencies that remain to be addressed, the statement said.
Global Witness, an international NGO welcomed the FATF move of coming out with such a list but said that majority of countries on the list are poor countries and not OECD members.
“There are also problems in the world’s key financial centres where those systems allow exposed politicians, terrorists, nuclear proliferators and organised criminals to access funds they need,” Anthea Lawson, a campaigner for Global Witness told Reuters by phone.
The latest list is based on evaluations by FATF on whether a country has laws in place. “What is not measured is whether these laws are enforced and if that is done, many more countries would be on the blacklist,” she said, citing the example of the USA which is not showing signs of what it should do.
(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho; Editing by Ron Askew)
