War-torn African state orders evacuation of citizens from Iran
Sudan’s transitional government has ordered the immediate evacuation of its nationals from Iran, where Israeli airstrikes have escalated into a deadly confrontation between Tehran and West Jerusalem. The African state has itself been locked in a brutal war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023.
Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idriss issued the directive on Saturday during a phone call with the country’s ambassador to Iran, Abdel Aziz Hassan Salih, state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported.
According to the outlet, the Prime Minister asked the envoy to “attend to the Sudanese community, assess their conditions, and work on the safe evacuation of all nationals in coordination with the relevant authorities.”
On Friday, Israeli fighter jets launched a series of coordinated strikes across Iran, hitting multiple targets including a uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, and assassinated several senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran responded by firing dozens of ballistic missiles into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive, which came just one day after the International Atomic Energy Agency accused Iran of breaching its non-proliferation commitments, was intended to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Tehran denounced the strikes as unprovoked acts of aggression and dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.
At least 19 people had been killed in Iranian strikes as of Monday morning, according to Israeli police. Iran’s Health Ministry, meanwhile, reported that 224 people were killed by IDF strikes as of Sunday evening.
Sudan earlier criticized Israel for its “unjust aggression” against Iran, calling it a “serious threat” to international peace and security.
“The Republic of Sudan calls on the United Nations and the Security Council to take urgent measures to immediately halt these attacks,” the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Friday.
Several African countries have condemned Israel’s attack on Iran. Egypt described it as a “blatant and extremely dangerous regional escalation, a flagrant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, and a direct threat to regional and international peace and security.”
Nigeria expressed “grave concern” over West Jerusalem’s “preemptive strike on Iran” and pledged support for “all genuine efforts aimed at de-escalating tensions and promoting peace in the region.”
South Africa, which has filed a genocide case against Israel over its military operations in Gaza, stated that “the attacks conducted by Israel on targets within Iran… raise serious concerns under international law, including the principles of sovereignty [and] territorial integrity.”
