Sudan and Iran resume diplomatic relations severed seven years ago, promising to 'open embassies soon'

Report from The Associated Press (AP)

Written by JACK JEFFERY

Dated Monday, 9 October 2023; Updated 8:28 PM BST - here is a full copy:

Sudan and Iran resume diplomatic relations severed 7 years ago, promising to ‘open embassies soon’

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan and Iran announced in a joint statement Monday the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries after a seven-year hiatus.

Khartoum cut ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy in Iran. The oil-rich kingdom had executed a prominent Shiite cleric with 46 others days earlier, triggering demonstrations and severing Saudi-Iranian relations.

At the time, Sudan was a close ally of Saudi Arabia and had deployed troops to fight in the Saudi coalition against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.

“Both countries agreed to take the necessary measure to open embassies in the two countries soon,” Sudan’s foreign ministry said in an online statement.

OTHER NEWS

Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and his Sudanese counterpart, Ali al-Sadiq, met in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku in July, the first known high-level meeting between the two countries since 2016.

“The two sides agreed to enhance cooperation on different areas which can fulfill the interests of both nations and ensure security and stability in the region,” Iranian state media said, in a parallel statement.

The rapprochement comes seven months after regional foes Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies in a deal brokered by China.

Iranian Presidency Office via AP

Sudan has been rocked by violence since mid-April when fighting erupted between the country’s military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamden Dagalo.

The conflict has killed at least 5,000 and wounded more than 12,000, according to according to the United Nations. Activists and medical groups in Sudan say the figures are much higher.

View original: https://apnews.com/article/iran-sudan-diplomatic-ties-saudi-8ce7690acb75bfaff092e63713ae52c0

_________________________

Summary from BBC News Live Reporting on Tue 10 Oct 2023 at 21:00 BST

• US President Joe Biden has described Hamas' attack on Israel as an "act of pure evil"
• Biden accused the militants of "butchering" people and said Israel will have "what it needs" to respond
• Details of a massacre in an Israeli village where fighting continued until Tuesday morning have emerged
• Babies were killed in their bedrooms, says an Israeli general who has been removing bodies of adults and children from the kibbutz
• Israeli soldiers also told BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen that some of the dead had been beheaded
• The full details of atrocities carried out by Hamas are being revealed after Israel's military regained full control of the Gaza border
• Hamas has launched a fresh rocket attack on southern Israel after warning people to leave the city of Ashkelon
• Israel is also continuing its heavy bombing of Gaza; a BBC reporter there said it was the worst bombing he had seen in 20 years, with neighbourhoods flattened
• The death toll in Israel has reached 1,000 and more than 800 people have been killed in Gaza

Click here to follow BBC News Live Reporting.

[Ends]