Iranian drones help Sudan’s army turn tide in civil war

SUDAN’S army says that it has begun using Iranian-made drones to help regain territory and turn the tide of the country’s civil war.

The newly acquired remote-control vehicles have been used for reconnaissance and artillery spotting during recent army victories in Omdurman across the Nile from the country’s capital, Khartoum.

Iranian officials also said the Sudanese armed forces had begun using the drones in the past few months in its war against paramilitary rivals in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

However, Sudan denied the unmanned aircraft had been supplied directly by Tehran and their origins were not immediately clear.

Iranian drones have been widely deployed by armies and militias in countries including Russia in Ukraine, Syria and Yemen.

Ali Sadeq, Sudan’s acting foreign minister who visited Iran last year and is aligned with the army, told Reuters: “Sudan did not obtain any weapons from Iran.”

The Sudanese armed forces used some older drones in the first months of the conflict which erupted in April 2023, but had little success against RSF fighters embedded in Khartoum’s heavily populated neighbourhoods.

The new, more effective versions then began operating from the army’s Wadi Sayyidna base north of Khartoum from January, according to eyewitnesses in the area.

“In recent weeks, the army has begun to use precise drones in military operations, which forced the RSF to flee from many areas and allowed the army to deploy forces on the ground,” said Mohamed Othman, a 59-year-old resident of Omdurman’s al-thawra district.

Tehran’s backing for Sudan’s army is aimed at strengthening ties with the strategically located country, Iranian and regional sources have said.

Sudan sits on the Red Sea, which is a key site of competition between global powers, including Iran, as war rages in the Middle East.

From the other side of the Red Sea, Yemen’s Houthis, armed in part by Iran, have launched attacks on shipping in support of Hamas in Gaza.

“What does Iran get in return? They now have a staging post on the Red Sea and on the African side,” a Western diplomat, who asked not to be named, said.