Report: Sudan rejects Iranian request to establish naval base

Sudan was asked to allow Tehran to build a permanent naval base on the shores of the Red Sea in the country's territory - which would have given it a hold on a strategic area overlooking maritime traffic in the Suez Canal to and from Israel. This was reported today (Sunday) in the "Wall Street Journal."

According to the report, based on the words of a senior Sudanese intelligence official, Iran offered to supply Khartoum with a helicopter carrier in exchange for approval of the establishment of the naval base. The offer came after in recent months Iran supplied the Sudanese army with unmanned aerial vehicles, which assist the army in the war against the rebels that began about a year ago.

Ahmed Hassan Mohammed, an intelligence adviser to Sudan's military leader, claimed that "the Iranians said they wanted to use the base to gather intelligence. They also wanted to station warships there." In this way, Iran could tighten its grip on the trade routes in the Red Sea, alongside Houthi attacks on ships in the region.

However, Sudan rejected the Iranian offer in order to avoid harsh reactions from the US and Israel. The spokesman for the Iranian delegation to the United Nations in New York refused to respond to the Sudanese official's statement.