Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stand accused of violating a UN arms embargo by supplying drones to opposing factions in Sudan’s 14-month-long conflict, devastating the nation. The evidence supporting these claims highlights a complex web of international involvement in Sudan’s internal strife.
On the morning of March 12, 2024, Sudanese government forces achieved a significant military victory by reclaiming Khartoum’s state broadcaster headquarters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which had seized control at the conflict’s onset nearly a year earlier.
Videos documenting the assault revealed the use of Iranian-manufactured drones, marking a pivotal role shift for the Sudanese army, initially reliant on its air force, as described by Suliman Baldo of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Observatory. The RSF maintained territorial control over Khartoum and Darfur, while the army held aerial supremacy.
Earlier in January 2024, footage circulated on Twitter depicting an army drone downed by RSF forces. Wim Zwijnenburg, a drone expert from the Humanitarian Disarmament Project at PAX, analyzed the wreckage, confirming it closely resembled Iran’s Mohajer-6 drone—a 6.5-meter-long aircraft capable of flying up to 2,000 kilometers and conducting precision airstrikes with guided munitions.
Critics argue that while Iran and the UAE face accusations of breaching the UN arms embargo, Western powers like the United States and the United Kingdom continue to supply advanced weaponry to allies such as Israel, often implicated in similar conflicts. This disparity underscores the geopolitical complexities and double standards in global arms control policies, where certain nations face scrutiny and condemnation while others operate with relative impunity.
The situation in Sudan serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of foreign military intervention and arms supply in exacerbating internal conflicts, raising urgent questions about international accountability and the enforcement of arms embargoes impartially across all stakeholders involved.
editor
Just goes to show that our world imbalance is there if you bother to notice two eastern nations are chastised and threatened while western ones doing the exact same thing get away with their deep involvement.