Sudan severs diplomatic ties with Iran
January 4, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan on Monday said it is severing diplomatic relations with Iran, one day after Saudi Arabia announced it was also cutting off ties with Tehran.
Sudan’s foreign ministry said in a statement Monday that Khartoum decided to sever ties with Iran immediately.
“The acting under-secretary of Sudan’s foreign ministry, Dafaa Allah Alhag Ali Osman, Monday has summoned the acting Iranian Chargé d’Affaires and conveyed to her the decision of Sudan’s government to cut off relations with Iran against the backdrop of the attack against Saudi embassy in Tehran,” read the statement.
The statement added that Osman informed acting Iranian chargé d’affaires to leave the country in two weeks.
In a statement issued by the foreign ministry in Khartoum Sunday, the Sudanese government condemned the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran without mentioning the execution of al-Nmir.
The statement described the attack on the Saudi embassy as “an act of extreme hostility”. It further demanded Tehran to provide protection for diplomatic missions, and bring to justice those involved in the incident.
The Sudanese foreign ministry further reiterated its “total condemnation of all forms of violence and extremism, whatever the reasons are.”
Meanwhile, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Monday said the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz received a phone call from Sudan’s minister of state at the presidency and director of the president’s office Taha Osman al-Hussein.
According to SPA, al-Hussein told the deputy Saudi Crown Prince that his government decided to expel the Iranian ambassador and the entire mission and summon the Sudanese ambassador from Iran. He further underscored Sudan’s condemnation of the Iranian interference in the region through a sectarian approach as well as failure of the Iranian authorities to prevent attacks against the Saudi embassy and consulate in Tehran.
Al-Hussein expressed Sudan’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia in confronting terrorism and the implementation of deterrent measures against it.
Reliable sources in Khartoum said the decision to cut relations with Iran was taken at the level of the Sudanese presidency, adding that the foreign ministry was not associated to this measure.
In the past years, Sudanese government had strong ties with Tehran but since the death of King Abdullah, Khartoum improved its ties with the Saudi Arabia and participates in the Saudi-led military campaign against the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi militants in Yemen.
(ST)