KHARTOUM, Sudan: Two Iranian naval ships have docked in a Sudan port just as Sudan was denying that Iran is linked to a Khartoum military factory hit in an apparent airstrike last week.
Iran’s official news agency reported yesterday that two of its navy vessels — a helicopter carrier and a destroyer ship — docked in Port Sudan on the Red Sea on Monday. The report said the visit is part of Iran’s anti-piracy campaign and that ship commanders will meet Sudanese navy officials during their stay.
The visit underlined the alliance between two nations that have become pariahs in the world — Sudan because of the bloody conflict in Darfur that resulted in war crimes charges against its president, and Iran because of its suspect nuclear program and support of Islamic militants. A Sudanese military spokesman called the visit an “exchange of amicable relations” between the two nations.
The two have had close relations since Iran’s Revolutionary Guard helped Omar Bashir seize Sudan’s presidency in a 1989 coup. Last week’s explosion in the Sudanese factory has raised new interest in their ties given Israeli claims that Sudan is a conduit for Iranian arms headed to anti-Israel groups.
Iranian navy ships dock in Sudan port
