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18-01-2026
WASHINGTON: The US has accused South Africa’s defence ministry of refusing to obey orders from its own government to send home Iranian warships that have been conducting naval exercises in the African country’s waters.
“South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cozying up to Iran,” it said in a statement.
In response, South Africa’s defence ministry said it was launching an inquiry to get to the root of these “serious allegations”.
Washington has criticized South Africa for inviting Iran at a time when a brutal crackdown against protests was happening in the Middle Eastern country.
It said the South African military’s actions did not amount to “non-alignment” but were instead a “choice to stand with Iran”.
“This is absolutely no surprise. Protests against the Iranian regime are happening right now, human rights organizations here in SA have been calling for support for the protesters,” William Gumede, an associate professor at the University of Witwatersrand, told media.
“These are all democratic violations and human rights abuses and we have not heard a whimper from the ANC. That is the irony and hypocrisy, it’s been criticizing other regimes but it’s been silent on what’s happening in Iran.”
In the strongly worded statement posted on its social media accounts, the US embassy in South Africa said it noted with “concern and alarm” reports that the country’s defence minister and its defence forces had defied government orders to ask Iran to leave.
The US embassy said Iran’s participation “undermined maritime security and regional stability” and was “unconscionable” as it suppressed protests back home, comparing them to “peaceful political activity South Africans fought so hard to gain for themselves”.
On Friday the office of Defence Minister Angie Motshekga said she “would like to place it on record” that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s instructions had been “clearly communicated to all parties concerned, agreed upon and to be implemented and adhered to as such”.
Dubbed “Peace Resolve”, the week-long naval drill got under way last Friday. It is being led by China and involves other members from an alliance of major developing countries, including Russia, which when it was launched in 2006 was known as Bric.
It took its acronym from its founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China and when South Africa joined four years later an “s” was added to its name.
With the recent addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the alliance is now called Brics+ and its aim is to challenge the political and economic power of the wealthier Western nations.
Iranian warships had already arrived in Cape Town when the order to turn them around reportedly came through.
Last year, Saudi Arabia has joined Brics, the alliance of major developing countries, along with four other nations.
The Saudi membership was due to start on 1 January, but there was a delay before it was confirmed.
The Brics group wants emerging economies to have more influence in international politics.
In 2006, Brazil, Russia, India and China created the “Bric” group. South Africa joined in 2010, making it “Brics”.
The group was designed to bring together the world’s most important developing countries, to challenge the political and economic power of the wealthier nations of North America and Western Europe. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
