US-Brokered Sudan-Israel Deal Secured by 'Ransom': Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran's Foreign Ministry said a recent US-brokered normalization agreement between Israel and Sudan was secured after Khartoum paid a “ransom” in return for Washington removing it from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.
“The White House announcement on Sudan couldn't be more symbolic. Pay enough ransom, close your eyes on the crimes against Palestinians, then you'll be taken off the so-called ‘terrorism’ blacklist. Obviously, the list is as phony as the US fight against terrorism. Shameful!” the ministry said in a tweet on Saturday.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said Israel and Sudan had opened economic ties as a pathway toward normalized ties.
He announced the deal in the Oval Office while on a conference call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Trump announced on Monday he would take Sudan off the list once it had deposited $335 million it had pledged to pay in compensation.
Friday’s deal makes Sudan the third Arab country to normalize relations with the occupying Israeli regime in the last two months, after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.
