By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South Africa says it has no reason to severe ties with Iran, after the new U.S. ambassador was quoted as saying that Pretoria’s association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington.
The Director-General of South Africa’s department of international relations, Zane Dangor in an interview also rejected other President Donald Trump administration’s demands, such as dropping ongoing genocide case against Israel, scrapping Black empowerment laws or accepting a refugee programme for whites.
Dangor was speaking against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, a conflict placing increased strains on governments navigating relationships with Tehran.
The war has also led to a sharp deterioration in Pretoria’s ties with Washington, which has remained icy since President Donald Trump’s second term.
In August Trump imposed a 30% tariff on imports from South Africa, a move that could cause tens of thousands of job losses at a time when nearly a third of South Africans are out of work.
“We have not any reason to cut ties with Iran,” Dangor said, but he added: “we are not absolutely uncritical of Iran,” noting that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government had warned Tehran against crackdown on protesters in January, and for attacking neighbours in the latest war with the United States.
“(But) we cannot be pulled into the sort of sphere of influence politics that great powers want to pull us into, and that in this instance includes the U.S.,” he said.
In his first media interview, new U.S. Ambassador Leo Bozell was quoted by News24 as saying “an association with Iran is an impediment to good relations with the United States.”
“You (the United States) have a particular relationship with Iran … that many in the developing world (do not) have,” Dangor said.
South Africa’s relationship with the U.S. has been at a low since Trump accused its Black majority government of persecuting its white minority, repeating false claims about land seizures from white farmers circulating on far-right chat rooms.
Dangor said Pretoria was keen to improve ties with Washington, but “let’s engage about areas we agree on”.
