In the past several weeks, Iranian cargo planes have been spotted landing in Port Sudan, the seat of Sudan’s military-led government since Khartoum fell to its rival in the country’s civil war, the Rapid Support Forces. Last month, also, the RSF shot down an Iranian drone being operated by the Sudanese armed forces. Both developments corroborate allegations that the Sudanese government’s recent reestablishment of diplomatic ties with Iran has been accompanied by military support in the conflict that broke out last April. The rapprochement underscores the many ways in which Abu Dhabi’s stance on Sudan’s civil war has backfired, putting its goals in Sudan in serious jeopardy. The Sudanese government’s claims were confirmed by a U.N. Panel of Experts report released last month, which deemed the allegations that the UAE is arming the RSF to be “credible.”
