Why Iran's Africa Policy Should Be Closely Monitored
- Oral Toğa
- Dec 23, 2023
- 3 min read
Iran's relations with Africa, which have been consistent since the early years of the revolution, have become more pronounced in the past two years. While Iran formulates its policies on anti-Western rhetoric and solidarity, realpolitik is as decisive as ideological approaches in Iran's Africa policy. Iran's goals include escaping Western isolation, countering Western influence, gaining access to uranium, strengthening its economy, and increasing its votes in the UN.
CONTINENTAL COUNTRIES ARE AFFECTED
In this context, institutions such as Jihad-e Sazandegi, Bonyad-e Mostazafan, and Bonyad-e Danesh have been providing "humanitarian" aid to Africa for decades. Various ministries, institutions, and universities also implement this policy. Parallel to this aid, Iran has gradually increased its military presence in the region. After Soleimani's assassination, his successor, Esmail Qaani, was instructed by Supreme Leader Khamenei to extend the country's strategic depth from the Middle East to Africa by encouraging resistance movements and creating new "resistance forces. Today, President Ebrahim Raisi's active Africa policy is the political leg of this strategy.
These activities have caused discomfort among African countries, leading to increased reactions. For example, Morocco broke off diplomatic relations with Iran over its support for separatists, while Nigeria has tried to curb the activities of Shiite cleric Zakzaky. Ethiopia disrupted an Iranian intelligence network preparing to attack the UAE embassy two years ago and has since closely monitored Iran's activities. Iran's covert operations across a broad region, from the Horn of Africa to Western Sahara, have been increasingly exposed in open sources over the past five years, with numerous analyses and reports published, particularly by Israeli and American think tanks.
TURKEY AS A MAJOR COMPETITOR
In addition to global powers such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia, countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel are actively shaping policy on the continent. Despite this multi-actor environment, Iranian media focus overwhelmingly on Turkey's policies and activities in Africa. In the two months since Raisi's Africa visits, headlines such as "Turkey's trade with Africa is 40 times that of Iran," "What are Iran's competitors doing in Africa?" "The Path and Role of Turkey's Influence in Africa," and "100% Growth in Iran-Africa Trade: Time to Overtake Turkey" have dominated the narrative. Many Iranian opinion leaders, when discussing Africa, refer to Turkey's policies and compare Iran to Turkey.
Turkey's investments in Africa, the activities of Turkish businessmen, the flights of Turkish Airlines, the number of diplomatic missions, and the activities of institutions such as the Yunus Emre and Maarif Foundations are extensively reported in the Iranian press, often portraying Turkey as the only competitor on the continent. Africa policy always uses Turkey as a benchmark, with constant emphasis on the need for Iran to surpass these metrics.
ANKARA MUST NOT LET ITS GUARD DOWN
Beyond commercial competition, from a security perspective, these developments could lay the groundwork for events detrimental to Turkey. Iran could use its networks to gain an advantage over Turkey in this competition, ranging from black propaganda to terrorist attacks. Reports explicitly reflect Iran's use of Somalia as a base to transfer weapons and other equipment to its actors in Yemen, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Mozambique. In addition, through the DMO, Iran has established ties with criminal networks and al-Shabaab in Somalia, and established an oil smuggling network across Africa to evade U.S. oil sanctions.
Iran has also been able to use its ideological activities in Africa to infiltrate individuals into Turkey. Local interviews mention many Africans entering Turkey via Iran. The routes these individuals take from Africa to Iran, their activities there, and their motivations for coming to Turkey need to be thoroughly understood.
In summary, Iran appears to be deepening its proxy network through military expansion via the DMO in addition to its "humanitarian" activities in African countries. The focus on Turkey in Iran's domestic discourse, as if there were no other significant actors on the continent, is noteworthy. Iran's increasingly deep networks could be used in the future to sabotage and deter Turkey's activities, which warrants caution.
This article was first published in Turkish in the Yeni Şafak newspaper on 28.09.2023.
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