Iran Supports Khartoum policies in Darfur

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

By Mahmoud A. Suleiman

February 17, 2008 — While Iran celebrates the 29th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution founded by Imam Ayatollah Ruhollah Mussawi Khomeini, the Iranian Shura Council Chairman Iranian parliament speaker Dr. Ghulam-Ali Haddad-Adel, who recently ended his visit to the Sudan is reported to have said, in a press conference held in Khartoum before leaving for his country, that Iran’s position toward the issue of Darfur is to support the position of the government of Sudan (GOS) and the positions of President Field Marshal Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir and that of the Speaker of the Sudanese Parliament Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir, indicating that the Darfur crisis is a result of external interference in affairs of Sudan. Dr. Haddad said that “inspired by Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the Sudanese nation managed to gain victory and form in Africa an independent state with an Islamic identity”. He is also quoted as saying, in response to reporters’ questions about the level of economic relations that do not commensurate with the level of bilateral political and diplomatic growth that has evolved between his country and Sudan, “at the same time we must work on the development of trade between our two countries more”. He added that there has been positive trend to achieve those goals, and that the two countries were determined to remove all obstacles in achieving those goals, and he revealed the conventions in the initial stages would provide technical services for the Sudan and will enter into force soon. Dr. Haddad-Adel was reported by the official Iranian News agency (IRNA) as telling a group of Sudanese scientists, elites and academics that Iranian people attach special significance to Sudanese nation due to their lofty status in the world of Islam and their solidarity with Iran’s Islamic Revolution and its late leader Imam Khomeini. Not surprisingly, the Iranian Mehr News Agency reported that Iranian Defence Minister Mustafa Mohammad-Najjar told his Sudanese counterpart Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein in January 2007 that unity is the main vehicle for the development of the Islamic world. The minister was reported to have highlighted the need to promote defence relations between Tehran and Khartoum. “As one of Iran’s old friends, Sudan has a special place in the Islamic Republic’s foreign and defence policies, “said, Iranian Defence Minister. He added “Iran’s strategic situation in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf and Sudan’s situation in Africa and the Red Sea greatly impacts developments in these two regions”. He announced that Iran is prepared to participate in reconstruction projects in south and west Sudan. The Sudanese minister also called for the promotion of ties between the two countries in all areas, especially in defence field. Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein said, “The United States is hindering the Islamic world’s development through different tactics.” The Iranian Defence Minister Mustafa Mohammad-Najjar was reported to have added that Iranian people have absolute right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. “Unity of Shiites and Sunnis is very essential to foil plots against Islamic world”!

In the Iranian doctrine of “Islamic World” there is no room for the Darfur Muslims based on the foregoing statements by the Iranian Shura Council Chairman. This is despite the fact that the death toll in the Darfur region of western Sudan has reached 400,000 Muslims lives with 2.5 million people displaced. Iran, unashamedly, supports the policies of dictatorial and genocidal Khartoum regime led by the infamous National Congress Party (NIF/NCP), the World’s most brutal and murderous reign, in Darfur. The United Nations in which Iran is a member warns that the death toll in Darfur could escalate precipitously if the situation is allowed to deteriorate. This is not surprising, the regimes that are in support of NIF policies in Darfur all share similar characteristics of poor human right records and are frequently the same countries that have poor records in other aspects of economic, social and political development. Government of Sudan, Iran and others of that ilk continue orchestrating that Darfur crisis as just a Zionist Conspiracy exploiting African genocide for propaganda. As early as Dec. 21, 2004, Republic of Sudan Radio reported that Sudanese Interior Minister, currently humanitarian affairs minister he oversees Darfur’s 2m refugees, Ahmad Haroun, flanked by two other government ministers, “accused the Zionist entity of supplying the Darfur rebels with weapons in the framework of Israel’s plan that targets Arab nations!. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for a Sudanese minister and a militia leader suspected of war crimes in the Darfur region. Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abdel-Rahman, also called Ali Kushayb, are wanted on 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including the murder, rape, torture and persecution of civilians in Darfur.

Sudan under the NIF rule is judged a rogue state par excellence; it has carried on a campaign of international terrorism in its earlier days, committed genocide in Darfur and ethnic cleansing in the South, has refused to abide by international law or treaties, has violated norms of civil society, and has defied world opinion to a degree unmatched by the frequently cited “rogue states. Moreover, NIF regime tried to spread fundamentalist movement to the neighbouring states who object to interference from Khartoum. It is disappointing and unfortunate that the Iranian authorities to give in to the divide-and-conquer tactics of the NIF in Darfur. Their support of the Khartoum regime’s policies in Darfur will refuel the genocidal war in Darfur with more loss of innocent civilian life and catastrophe. Iran needs to track down this elusive regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) to uncover its true nature and notoriety that is characterised by brutal oppression of the political opposition and the practice of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the people in Darfur. The NIF regime is a government that controls its citizens by hatred. Will the representatives of people of Iran in Majlis of Iran (Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Iranian Parliament, reflect upon the situation in Darfur, in all conscience and fairness, and admit that their Parliament speaker Dr. Ghulam-Ali Haddad-Adel was wrong in supporting the acts of genocide and related crimes against humanity and the policies of Field Marshal Omer Hassan Ahmed Al Bashir and his murderous junta and his repressive regime, in Darfur? We Made up this perennial Sixty-Four Dollar Question ($64 question), regrettably, we have no ready made answer on offer. Nevertheless, the people of Darfur are hopefully and urgently appealing to the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran to put pressure on their government to withdraw its unreserved backing of the National Congress Party regime in Khartoum on the plight of the People of Darfur who are all devout Muslims.

Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is the Deputy Chairman of the General Congress for Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). He can be reached at [email protected]