{"id":47588,"date":"2026-01-16T06:01:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=47588"},"modified":"2026-01-16T06:01:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:01:32","slug":"sa-cant-lecture-world-justice-while-cozying-up-iran-us-embassy-slams-pretoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/16\/sa-cant-lecture-world-justice-while-cozying-up-iran-us-embassy-slams-pretoria\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;SA can\u2019t lecture world on justice while cozying up to Iran,&#8217; US Embassy slams Pretoria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>The embassy said it is particularly &#8216;unconscionable&#8217; that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces. <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The US Embassy in South Africa has slammed Pretoria for supporting Iran while it cracks down on anti-government protesters by allowing Iranian warships into South African waters of False Bay in Cape Town for naval exercises, which also include Russia and China.<\/p>\n<p>Iran vowed on Thursday to defend itself against any foreign threat, after US President Donald Trump said he would \u201cwatch it and see\u201d regarding military action over the crackdown on protesters.<\/p>\n<p>The presence of three Iranian warships off False Bay has drawn international attention to South Africa, raising concerns about political costs for its allies.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-us-slams-sa\">US slams SA<\/h2>\n<p>In a post on X, the US Embassy in South Africa expressed concern about South Africa\u2019s decision to allow Iran to participate in naval exercises.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe United States notes with concern and alarm reports that the Minister of Defence and SANDF defied a government order regarding Iran\u2019s participation in the ongoing naval exercises. Iran is a destabilising actor and state sponsor of terror, and its inclusion in joint exercises \u2013 in any capacity \u2013 undermines maritime security and regional stability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOW READ:\u00a0BMA denies \u2018misleading claims\u2019 that it refused Russian warship access to SA shores<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sa-welcoming-iran\">SA \u2018welcoming Iran\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>The embassy said it is particularly \u201cunconscionable\u201d that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces as they were \u201cshooting, jailing and torturing\u201d Iranian citizens engaging in peaceful political activity, for which South Africans fought so hard to gain for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSouth Africa can\u2019t lecture the world on \u2018justice\u2019 while cosying up to Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd permitting Iranian military forces to operate in South African waters \u2014 or going to Tehran and expressing solidarity \u2014 isn\u2019t \u2018non-alignment\u2019: it\u2019s choosing to stand with a regime that brutally represses its people and engages in terrorism,\u201d the embassy said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And permitting Iranian military forces to operate in South African waters \u2014 or going to Tehran and expressing solidarity \u2014 isn\u2019t \u2018non-alignment\u2019: it\u2019s choosing to stand with a regime that brutally represses its people and engages in terrorism.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 US Embassy SA (@USEmbassySA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USEmbassySA\/status\/2011863348111929518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">January 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-damaging-relations\">Damaging relations<\/h3>\n<p>Earlier this week, defence analyst Helmoed-R\u00f6mer Heitman told The Citizen that including Iran risked damaging relations with key trading partners in Europe and the United States (US).<\/p>\n<p>Heitman said while South Africa will feel the impact of exercising with Iran, Iran will not feel the pinch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey wanted to make the political point that they had a friend somewhere. There\u2019s nobody in their region who likes them. You know, the Saudi, Oman, UAE, maybe Qatar and Kuwait. They all regard Iran as an aggressor and a bully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen, of course, America and Europe don\u2019t much like Iran. So for them, it was a political thing. You know, there\u2019s somebody in the world who likes us and will welcome us and hug us, and whatever they\u2019ve achieved, whether they participate or not,\u201d Heitman said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: Lamola urged to report Iran to UN as protest death toll soars<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-too-late-she-cried\">Too late, she cried<\/h3>\n<p>Heitman said for South Africa, the \u201cdamage has been done\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom a South African point of view, that old novel phrase \u2018too late she cried\u2019, the damage was done when the Iranians arrived here. It\u2019s too late now, as far as opinion in America, and maybe Europe, is concerned. It just painted us in that corner with Iran and the others.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-pretoria-concerned\">Pretoria concerned<\/h3>\n<p>A government source earlier confirmed to SABC News that Iran had been asked to withdraw from the drills, only for the SANDF to later post a now-deleted Facebook statement saying the Iranian corvette Naghdi participated in the sea-phase exercise.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the Presidency <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">issued its own statement\u00a0expressing concern about developments in Iran and urging both restraint and for authorities there to ensure that citizens exercise<\/span> their right to protest in peace.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-peaceful-protest\">Peaceful protest<\/h3>\n<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said the South African government is following the developments in Iran with \u201cconcern\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reports of unrest and the subsequent loss of life are concerning, and South Africa urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint. South Africa firmly believes that the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and freedom of association are universal human rights that must be upheld without exception.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe therefore call on the Iranian authorities to ensure that citizens exercise their right to protest in peace,\u201d Magwenya said.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reporting-iran\">Reporting Iran<\/h3>\n<p>On Wednesday, the DA called on International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola to report Iran to the United Nations Human Rights Council over the deaths of protesters.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter to Lamola, DA MP and international relations spokesperson Ryan Smith said that Iran should be reported for flagrant human rights abuses in its attempts to suppress the current uprising.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Citizen<\/em> has contacted both the SANDF and the International Relations Department for comment, but has not yet received a response.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:\u00a0GNU partner accuses Lamola of \u2018abdication\u2019 of responsibility over naval drill<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#lecture #world #justice #cozying #Iran #Embassy #slams #Pretoria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The embassy said it is particularly &#8216;unconscionable&#8217; that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces. The US Embassy in South Africa&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47590,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47588\/revisions\/47590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}