Key Aspects of Cooperation Between Iran and African States

The article studies the dynamics and prospects of relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and African states. The study isrelevantduetothefactthatsince 2021 (when President Ebrahim Raisi came to power in Iran) Africa has become one of the promising directions of Iran’s foreign policy. The first part of the paper gives a brief outline of relations between Iran and African countries since 1979 and an overview of the current state of affairs. Then, the mutual interests of the parties are identified, and the factors contributing to and hindering the interaction are analyzed. The article considers positive and negative scenarios for the development of relations in the short term. In order to provide a comprehensive view on the issue studied, the authors have analyzed a wide range of factors in Iran-Africa interaction. Different sources (Iranian, African, Arab,
 
Western, and Russian) were used to address the issue from different perspectives. Iran- Africa relations and its development are influenced most by the economic, political, ideological and security aspects. It is shown that Iran today emphasizes political and religious advancement in Africa, while African states are mostly interested in economic cooperation with Iran. The article suggests that the development of Iran-Africa relations is more important for Iran than for its African partners. Despite certain benefits that the parties may derive from the cooperation, a significant breakthrough in this field in the coming years is unlikely, which is due to both the ambiguous elements of Iranian activities in Africa and competitive advantages of Iran’s rivals and their greater attractiveness to African states.

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