Sudan’s agreement with Israel eliminates mullahs’ dreams of supporting terrorism
With the succession of American sanctions against the mullah
regime, Sudan’s agreement with Israel represent a strong blow to Tehran, which
was exploiting Sudan to support terrorist operations, as analysts believe that
Khartoum taking the decision to conclude a peace agreement with Tel Aviv ends
Iran’s dreams of turning Sudan into a forward base to help expand Tehran’s
influence.
The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially
announced that Khartoum and Tel Aviv had reached a decision to end hostilities,
normalize their relationship, and start economic and commercial dealings.
Writer and political analyst Oded Granot said in an article
that “Sudan's decision to normalize ties with Israel conveys a divorce from
three obstructions that had suffocated this vast country and threatened to ruin
it completely.”
Granot explained that one of the barriers was Iran’s efforts
“to turn Sudan into a forward operating base to help them expand their spheres
of influence.”
The newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth earlier quoted the Israeli
Ministry of Intelligence as saying that one of the most important things that
Israel will benefit from after announcing a peace agreement with Sudan is “preventing
the smuggling of weapons via the Sudan-Egypt-Gaza route, preventing the
positioning of entities hostile to Israel on its territory, and the possibility
of thwarting the establishment of naval bases for parties hostile to Israel,
such as Iran, on the shores of the Red Sea.”
An investigative report by Nordic Monitor published last
year suggested that “despite the Sudanese transitional government’s declaration
of its observance of all international obligations that were made by the Bashir
government, the previous Sudanese regime’s agreements, whether intelligence and
military or related to leasing Suakin Island on the Red Sea, are candidates with
a high priority of cancellation.”
Extremism
According to Granot, another barrier that Sudan got rid of
is extremism. “The lengthy period of time under the rule of the Mulsim
Brotherhood and former tyrant Omar al-Bashir pushed Sudan toward religious
fanaticism that included, among other things, providing refuge to al-Qaida and
Osama Bin Laden, and providing military aid and training to Hamas and Hezbollah
terrorists,” he wrote.
As for the third obstruction, it related to the “negative
image of Israel, which Bashir’s regime cultivated,” but this “gradually
evaporated after his overthrow.”
Win-win
Israeli analysts are unanimously agreed that the declaration
of the peace agreement between Israel and Sudan is “a success story for both
parties, with no loser, as Sudan got an economic rescue from huge debts
amounting to $60 billion and the prospect of returning to the United Nations
family after removing its name from the list of countries supporting terrorism.”
Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, a prominent researcher
at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), said, “It is important to
remember that Sudan entered into a peace agreement with Israel out of its own
interest and not out of love for Israel. Sudan’s primary interest is to remove
its name from the list of supporters of terrorism.”
However, he added that Sudan “is a country that has not
supported terrorism for a few years, and this is a development that deserves to
be appreciated.”
According to Kuperwasser, “Israel has an interest in
strengthening the pragmatic-moderate regime in the Arab world to confront extremist
regimes.”
Related context
The US Treasury Department announced expanding sanctions on
Tehran and the inclusion of Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on the
US blacklist.
The Treasury added that other Iranians were also sanctioned,
in addition to several Iranian companies and institutions, including the
Ministry of Oil.
It noted that the constraints included two oil tankers
sailing under the flags of Honduras and Panama that are linked to the National
Iranian Oil Company.
