The Impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in Sudan

The Thought of the Islamic Revolution
The Impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in Sudan

Until 1820, when the joint Turkish-Egyptian government was based in northern Sudan, our information in regards to the political history and situation of this country is very limited. This joint Turkish-Egyptian government went on until 1881. With the British colonial rule in Egypt, its scope of influence spread to Sudan. Primarily in Sudan, the people that used to refer to themselves as Mahdiyun under the leadership of Muhammad Ahmad stood against British rule. However, the Sudan states cooperated with him and it was this way that after six months of the siege of Khartoum by the Mahdiyun, with the death of Muhammad Ahmad, differences emerged amongst his followers and eventually, Abdullah, with his army called ‘Ansar,’ defeated all his opponents in 1891. Nonetheless, hardly did it take before they were heavily defeated in a battle against the British army in 1896 and Abdullah was killed. Following the full British rule over Sudan, the remaining army of al-Mahdi was also defeated and killed in a battle against British troops in the city of Omdurman, and in this manner, the British ruled Sudan for sixty years. In 1899, Sudan fully became a British colony. (Sudan, 1989, 18) During this year, Sir Reginald Wingate, the commander-in-chief of Sudan, set up the Sudan administration conforming it to the British organization.

After the independence of Egypt in 1922, one of the Sudanese officers named Ali Abd al-Latif, with cooperation from Egypt, formed a movement fighting for freedom. The year 1924, marked the beginning of the resistant wars of the Sudanese against the British colonization and little by little the ideology of seeking independence began to grow amongst different classes of society and university students. In 1943, the National Unionist Party (NUP) and another one named the ‘Ummah Party’ were both formed with the aim of fighting for independence. By paying heed to the resistant movements on June 19, 1948, the executive council and the legislative assembly were adopted and elections were held. Even though only 18% of the registered voters took part in the election, an important step had been taken. Among the notable results of the above-mentioned assembly is the use of the Arabic language in the institutions and the schools and nationalizing the big national centres like the Gezira Scheme. Of course, the governor still retained all his power in the event of a dispute.

In November 1953, in the country’s first parliament, the Sudanese participated in the election and the National Unionist Party (NUP) under the leadership of Isma’il al-Azhari, won the elections by attaining 51 seats. In 1955, the National Constituent Assembly demanded the exit of all the British rule from this country and in December of that same year, the Sudanese parliament made a decision regarding the independence of Sudan as an independent country. Finally, in 1956, the flags of the United Kingdom and Egypt were taken down and the freedom celebration was conducted in January 1956. (Braginsky, 1973, 42). However, this did not mean the end of the internal wrangles within Sudan. This is because this country has experienced more failed coups than the other African countries. Owing to this reason, in 1958, Ibrahim Abboud, led a coup and again formed a coalition government in 1964. In 1969, Colonel Ja’far Numayri led a coup and during his sixteen years of dictatorial rule, he struggled to develop the relationship between the United States and Sudan.

In 1985, with the help and support from the popular movements and political groups, General Sawar ad-Dhahab came to power via a bloodless coup. Nonetheless, he announced that he will step aside if the popular elections are held and will cede power to the person elected by the people. (Sudan, 1989, 131). In this order, one year later, Sadiq al-Mahdi from the Umma Party, came to power. On June 30, 1989, General Omar al-Bashir overthrew al-Mahdi’s government through a bloodless military coup and established the ‘National Rescue’ government. In the presidential elections held in 1996, he became the president of the Republic of Sudan after getting a lot of votes. 

The Islamic Revolution and the relationship between Iran and Sudan

In their relationship under the influence of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Iran and Sudan have undergone three phases:

  • The first phase until the hostage-taking (1980): poor cooperation

Before the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the relationship between Iran and Sudan was mostly defined in the commercial sphere and that too was very poor. Based on the published statistics, our imports until 1982 were 382,000 dollars and our exports in 1976 did not exceed 116, 000 dollars.

In 1973, for the first time, these two countries exchanged ambassadors and Numayri visited Iran in that same year and the relationship between these two countries has grown stronger as an Arab supporter. With the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the Sudanese officials published declarations in support of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. In this regard, Dr. Hasan al-Turabi, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood also visited the Supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, that is, Imam Khomeini.

  • The second phase from the hostage-taking until the fall of Numayri (1980-1985): hostile relationship

After the incident of hostage-taking in the Sudanese government’s espionage den as an American ally in Africa, the relationship between these two countries changed and turned hostile. In 1983, Numayri considered the Iranian staff at the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran as undesirable elements and ordered them to be fired.

The dictatorship of Numayri during the sixteen years of his rule had a complete inclination to the West and even though this country possesses rich agricultural resources, by destroying the economic situation of Sudan, he made the situation extremely difficult for the people. Among Numayri’s actions that can be considered to have had detrimental effects on the Muslims in the Arab countries, was the participation in the imposed war in support of Iraq against Iran and supporting Anwar al-Sadat in signing the Camp David Accords and the peace agreement with Israel. Due to this, all the groups and movements of Sudan especially the Islamic movements like the Muslim Brotherhood stood against him. This eventually led to a coup by Sawar ad-Dhahab with the support of popular groups and parties in 1985. 

  • The third phase from the time of the fall of Numayri until now: Towards expanding relationships

After the fall of Numayri and the coming into power of Sawar ad-Dhahab, a new season in the relationship between these two countries commenced. In the first step of the victory of the movement of the Muslims of Sudan, the Islamic Republic of Iran congratulated and sent a delegation to Sudan to declare their support. The results of that can be named as follows:

  • Success in establishing relations between these two countries.
  • Promising to free the Sudanese captives of the imposed war.
  • Opening of the Iranian embassy in Khartoum.
  • Analyzing the fields of technical-economic cooperation between the two countries.

A year later, with Sadiq al-Mahdi coming into power, the relationship between these two countries improved and became clearer and specifically after a negative vote by the Sudanese government on the resolution of the Human Rights Commission against Iran in the Security Council.  Some writers have stated that the zenith of the bilateral relationship between these two countries until 2001, was when the first Deputy President of the Republic of Sudan visited Iran and sought a loan from the Iranian government.

The impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution upon Sudan

Today, it is assumed that Sudan is one of the most important African and Muslim countries that has been influenced by Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The present government of Sudan which is in the process of uniting the Muslim militaries under the leadership of Omar al-Bashir and the ‘al-Jabhah al-Qawmiyyah al-Islamiyyah’ which broke up from the Muslim Brotherhood under the leadership of Dr. al-Turabi, has taken over the power with the foundation of their work being reliance on Islam and activities to weaken and eliminate the Sufism culture from the people. In this regard, Dr. al-Turabi designed a new epitome for political Islam and with the announcement of the subject of struggle, a new move was made.

It is obvious that this type of attitude towards Islam and bringing it out of isolation and making it dynamic in the contemporary political arena began with Iran’s Islamic Revolution. And it also revived the fact that Islam has the power to create and regulate the mechanism of a government. This kind of view and bringing about a political epitome can be seen in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Algeria and so on.

In its struggle in regards to Islamic politics, Sudan too, cannot be left out amongst the countries influenced by Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Considering this, some writers consider the constitution of Sudan (1998) to be the future of Iran’s constitution and the constitutions of Libya and the United Kingdom. 

Among the aspects that led to the attraction of the Islamic Revolution in Sudan is the deep root of Mahdism and the history of the Islamic struggle against European colonialism.

Of course, it must be added that due to its Islamic nature, Iran’s Islamic Revolution has expanded its sphere of influence and as long as a country has Muslims, it will be influenced by the Islamic Revolution. In Sudan, this matter is clearly elaborated by words of Sadiq al-Mahdi:

“Iran’s Islamic Revolution had a deep influence upon the people of Sudan as they have learnt a lot of their historical phenomena from Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The inception of Iran’s Islamic Revolution brought a new dawn to the people of Sudan. In Sudan, there was a group of people that did not believe that Islam was a way of solving their problems. They used to believe that the only way and means of solving the problems was by nationalism and by following Western ideologies. However, Iran’s Islamic Revolution completely changed this ideology and proved that Islam is alive and can stand against the ideological waves.” (Hashmatzadeh, 2006, 137)

By paying heed to some aspects that have been pointed out, Iran’s Islamic Revolution has influenced Sudan and these impacts have been reflected in the form of significant changes at the government and national levels. 

Finally, we have to say that by putting into consideration heed to the passing of almost three decades since the inception of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the relationship between these two countries is poor and unfortunately, Iran did not benefit from its revolutionary and Islamic capacity in this country despite the emergence of an appropriate environment in Sudan. Owing to this fact, in its African policies, from the cultural and economic perspective, Iran ought to develop its relationship with Sudan. Otherwise, the countries inclined to the West will narrow Iran’s place in these areas.

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