On February 21, US Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey expressed concern about Iran shipping weapons to the Sudanese army, a country trapped in civil war.
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| The civil war in Sudan has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced more than 9 million. (Source: Anadolu) |
The US State Department website posted Mr. Godfrey's response to reporters saying that Washington is "deeply concerned about outside support" for both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), two fiercely opposing factions in the North African country.
“There are reports of a rapprochement between Sudan and Iran, which may include Tehran providing material support to the SAF. This is also very worrying and causes great insecurity for us,” the diplomat said.
He stressed that the US "calls on external actors to refrain from providing material support to the two warring parties" and warned that "this will prolong the conflict and war, and reduce the prospect of finding a way out through negotiations".
Last month, RSF posted on social media what it said was debris from an Iranian-made Mohajer drone belonging to the SAF. Bloomberg News also cited Western officials as saying that Iran was supplying weapons to the Sudanese military.
The Sudanese civil war broke out on April 15 last year due to a power struggle between the SAF and RSF. In late January, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released figures recording that more than 13,000 people had been killed and more than 9 million others had been displaced since the conflict began in Sudan.
So far, the opposing sides have not reached any political agreement or ceasefire to end the civil war.
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