Last week I noted that Hamas and Hezbollah, both proxies of Iran, support the genocidal regime of Sudan.
Writing in the Weekly Standard, Jonathan Schanzer gives the history behind the relationship. It started with:
The story begins in1989, when an Islamist-inspired coup brought Brigadier Omar al-Bashir to power. Within months, Islamists tied to the National Islamic Front (NIF) held key posts in the government, security services, and other important sectors. As journalist Judith Miller noted, Sudan became “the only Sunni Arab state to have embraced absolutist, militant Islamic rule.” Weapons and oil supplies began to arrive from Iran. The two states, despite the Sunni-Shiite divide, became fast allies.
It didn’t take long for those ties to expand:
In December 1991, Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani paid an official visit to Khartoum, accompanied by more than 150 Iranian officials. “The Islamic Revolution of Sudan,” he proclaimed, “alongside Iran’s pioneer revolution, can doubtless be the source of movement and revolution throughout the Islamic world.” Iran pledged $17 million in financial aid to Sudan, and arranged for an additional $300 million in Chinese weapons to be delivered there. Iran further pledged one million tons of oil each year.
Schanzer concludes:
The three-way ties over nearly two decades explains the current Hamas and Iranian support for Bashir, and why they ignore the incontrovertible evidence of genocide. This yields two key observations.
First, both Sunni and Shiite Islamists are hypocritical and inconsistent when they proclaim that they seek justice.
More broadly, the Islamist support for the Darfur genocide reveals much about the dangers of Islamism, and must not be ignored.
(h/t Smooth Stone at her new digs)
Perhaps when experts try to assure us that Iran has not thoughts of destroying Israel, they could explain why Iran and its allies have this love for the genocidal regime in Khartoum.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
