Iran’s quest for influence in Africa has its origins in the same set of objectives as its activities in Latin America. Fundamentally, it is the need to spread the Revolution outside its borders to gain leverage against the West and Israel. Whether Tehran wants to avert sanctions in the UN, create asymmetric capabilities against more powerful enemies, or gain converts to Shia Islam in its battle against Sunni rival Saudi Arabia, the regime is constantly looking for new allies and converts.[1][2] To achieve these objectives, the Iranians have created a set of organizations that share responsibility for winning hearts and minds while exporting the revolution.
The Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO), under the Ministry of Culture, is responsible for coordinating the regime’s foreign influence efforts. The ICRO is an umbrella organization that coordinates the activities of its members to indoctrinate, recruit, and plan operations around the world, including in Africa. Based on available information, in each of Iran’s Embassies, it is likely that representatives from the following Iranian government entities all work through ICRO to coordinate their activities in a given country:
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Intelligence
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)
Islamic Propaganda Office (IDO)
Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO)
The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought
Ahl al Bayt World Assembly
Al-Mustafa Research Institute
Representative from International Affairs Department at Supreme Leader’s Office
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force
For most countries in Africa, as in Latin America, the Iranian regime always starts its work in the cultural/religious arena, before moving on to recruitment of operatives for the IRGC-QF or the Ministry of Intelligence that most likely also operate under the umbrella of the ICRO.[3][4][5] We must therefore begin our exploration by examining the influence activities of Iranian cultural/religious centers in Africa. From there, we can follow examples of how the regime has used its influence in order to plan deadly operations on the African continent.
Examples of Iranian Cultural/Religious Influence Activities in Africa:
The Islamic Republic of Iran has invested a considerable amount of resources to influence audiences in Africa. One of the key organizations under ICRO for the export of Shia Iranian influence to Africa is the Al-Mustafa International Research Institute headquartered in Qom, Iran. This institute sends its representatives to numerous countries in Africa. Once on the ground, these representatives spot potential recruits who will be sent to the Qom seminary for training in Iranian revolutionary Islam. Upon completion of their training, the recruits will return to their home countries to proselytize revolutionary Shia Islam among their fellow citizens.[6] According to Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, Director of Al Mustafa Institute, his organization maintains a network of forty thousand graduates in addition to another forty thousand current students from one hundred and thirty countries. Ayatollah Arafi also boasted that his organization is responsible for adding 50 million adherents to Shia Islam since its founding. [7]
Hojjat-ol Eslam Seyed Mohammad Shahedi, a representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office in West Africa, declares that the Al-Mustafa Institute’s missionaries in Africa are expected to learn one of three local languages, to include Swahili, before beginning their work in the region. Hojjat-ol Eslam Shahedi explains, “Many organization have contributed to the spread of Shia Islam to Africa. However, according to everyone involved on the ground, Al Mustafa Institute has been the most instrumental in this regard.”[8] The work of Al Mustafa Institute in Africa includes everything from publishing of books and magazines, translations of works into difference languages, along with the production of cultural programming. Most of these works have an anti imperialist message that resonates with local audiences.
In the realm of cultural programming for African audiences, the Iranian Al Mustafa Institute, in collaboration with ICRO, provide programming for 95.7 FM, a radio station in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The station is called the Voice of Quran and is managed by local Shia leader Sheikh Teijan Sila. Sheikh Sila was educated at the Qom Seminary and speaks Persian. On average, 95.7 FM broadcasts eleven hours of religious topics to include Quranic studies, Fiqh, speeches and special programming. Iranian Shia Islamic programs often highlight the battle of Karbala and Imam Hussein’s struggle against injustice in the face of overwhelming odds. This is a message that resonates with Africans given fresh memories of the struggle to gain freedom from European colonialism within the past 50 years. According to a report, Iran’s cultural consul in Freetown, Alireza Faramarzi, thanked Sheikh Sila for Voice of Quran’s programming and asked to increase collaboration along with the implementation of joint content for this radio station.[9]
The Islamic Republic of Iran is also producing a variety of religious TV shows along with Quranic studies programs for targeted audiences in Senegal. According to a report from the Public Relations office of ICRO the Iranian “Velayat-e Eshgh” TV series is being translated into both the local Wolof language as well as French at the Iranian Cultural Attaché office in Dakar. The translations are provided by Hasan Thiaw, a doctoral student of Persian language and literature at the prestigious Tarbiat Modarres University in Tehran. According to the report, assisting Hasan Thiaw in this endeavor is Ms. Aisheh Jaah, cinematic advisor on the project. [10]
TheCultural Consul of Iran in Freetown, Alireza Faramarzi, has been working with his counterparts at the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The purpose of this initiative is to set up local training camps for college students to introduce them to Iranian Islamic culture. Topics of mutual cooperation will include setting up of a library, scientific seminars, along with classes to teach computer skills. This cooperation will also incorporate lectures on marriage and human rights in Islam. The goal of these activities is once again to introduce current college students and future elites in Sierra Leone to Shia Iranian culture and Iran’s role in the struggle against imperialism and injustice.[11]
Seyed Hassan Esmati, the Iranian Cultural Consul in Dakar, stated during an interview with Iran’s Young Journalists Club news outlet that Senegal is one of the safest countries in Africa as well as being the center for meetings between diplomats and representatives of numerous international organizations. Esmati went on to explain that Iran’s Cultural Consular Office has been active in Dakar since 2007 to bring “Quran Diplomacy” to a country with 17 thousand Quranic institutions. Esmati stated that the Cultural Consular Office in Dakar is teaching classes in Farsi for local students. According to reports, the Iranian regime is ready to set up other Farsi departments in universities in Senegal. Esmati described the exchange of various university delegations to create opportunities for joint study. According to Esmati, the Iranian Government will extend ten scholarships to allow Senegalese students to study petroleum and natural gas sciences in Iran. [12]
These efforts indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran is trying to introduce a more favorable impression of Shia Islam in Senegal and the rest of Africa. During Iran’s discussions and meetings with Senegalese officials the need for unity among Muslims is a common theme used to build friendship. Iran places a special significance on its relations with Senegal given its ports on the Atlantic Ocean. These ports can be utilized as platform for Iran to extend its influence into the Atlantic region. It is interesting to note that the a similar strategy was previously used to build friendly relations with Sudan and Eritrea to gain naval access on Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Those efforts have allowed the Islamic Republic to establish a new front against their regional enemies, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
To reach an even bigger audience in Africa, in October or 2017, Iran launched its first African TV channel. Similar to HISPAN TV for Latin America, Hausa TV is a channel under the supervision of IRIB. Hausa TV broadcast shows, documentaries, news, reports, and movies in both English and Hausa language. According to a press release, Hausa is a West African language spoken by around 50 million people in countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan and Togo. Hausa TV has its own English and Hausa language website at www.hausatv.com. It is safe to assume that the programs will continue to attack the US as the leader of global imperialist forces against which the Iranian regime is willing to lead the fight.[13]
Examples of Operational Activities in Africa After Successful Influence
The Iranian regime’s considers Nigeria the greatest prize in Africa given its status as the most populous country on that continent with over 90 million Muslims, most of whom are Sunnis. However, Tehran prides itself for nurturing the burgeoning Shia community in Nigeria numbering close to zero in 1979 to over five million today according to some estimates.[14] As is the case with the rest of Africa, the Iranian regime started its work with cultural, religious, and charity outreach before organizing operational elements. In the case of Nigeria, Iran’s chosen group is the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) led by Iran’s favorite African cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky. Sheikh Zakzaky claims to have been motivated by the Iranian Revolution to become a Shia after travelling to Iran in 1980. Sheikh Zakzaky is currently under detention by the Nigerian Government for the attempted assassination of Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai in December of 2015. [15]
Before Sheikh Zakzaky’s arrest, the Iranian regime had worked with local Shia in Nigeria to carry out several operations that have so far ended in failure. In 2010, Nigerian customs officials in Lagos discovered a cache of weapons that included Iranian made grenades, rocket launchers, and 107-milimeter Katyusha artillery rockets. Three Nigerians and Two Quds officers were arrestedfor the smuggling of these weapons. However, another individual, alleged Quds Force Africa Corps commander Sayyed Akbar Tabatabaei, escaped to Tehran after hiding out in the Iranian Embassy for some time. It was later revealed that the final destination of the contraband weapons was the anti-Senegalese rebels active in the West African nation of Gambia. [16] Then in February 2013, Nigerian authorities arrested three individuals, one of whom was a Nigerian citizen that had received weapons training in Iran. The three men had planned to attack several targets in Lagos, Nigeria including USAID facilities, a Jewish cultural center, Israeli owned businesses, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, and hotels with American and Israeli guests.[17]
On the Eastern side of the African continent, Iranian activities follow the same pattern. In November 2015, Kenyan authorities arrested two locals, alleged to be assets under the control of an Iranian named “Parsa” tasked with carrying out a bombing in Nairobi. This is just a flavor of what Iran is up to in Africa as there are many similar incidents around the continent over the past ten years. [18]
Based on a recent article printed in the IRGC affiliated website Mashreghnews, we now have direct confirmation that the above activities of the Quds Force were enabled by local Iranian cultural centers and religious schools. Furthermore, the local operatives working with the IRGC-QF had likely been recruited at Iranian religious institutions such as the Al Mustafa Institute and the Ahl al Bait. The Mashreghnews article from January 2019 declares:
“The fact that out of nowhere in Nigeria (the heart of Africa) a Shia movement led by Sheikh Zakzaky appears,inspired by the Iranian revolutionary culture, or in Yemen the movement of Ansar Allah, that some call the second Hezbollah, joins the axis of resistance, or the Zaynabyoun (Pakistan) and Fatemyoun (Afghanistan) appear and take up arms in defense of the values of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, these things did not happen overnight or by accident. Organizations such as Al Mustafa and Ahl al Bayt had a hand in creating these powerful cultural movements.”[19]
It is clear based on the above commentary by an IRGC run news service that the Iranian cultural centers and religious institutions such as Al Mustafa and Ahl al Bayt are an integral part of the recruitment for Iran’s operational activities in Africa, the Middle East, and the rest of the world, Numerous available reports indicate that Ansar Allah in Yemen, and the Zaynabyoun and Fatemyoun units fighting on the battlefields of Syria are trained and led by the IRGC-QF.[20]This is clear evidence that allowing Iranian cultural and religious affiliated institutions to operate in a given country is the most certain path to enabling Iran to train revolutionaries that will one day join the regime’s expeditionary armies under the command of the IRGC-QF.
[1]https://rasanah-iiis.org/parsi: Iran’s Influence on the African Continent (in Farsi)
[2]https://rasanah-iiis.org/parsi: IRGC’s influence on the African Continent (in Farsi)
[3]Pushback: Countering the Iran Action Network by Scott Modell and David Asher
[4]https://www.farhang.gov.ir/fa/intro/subordinate/cultureorganization
[5]https://www.meforum.org/7254/middle-eastern-interventions-in-africa-tehran
[6]www.mehrnews.com/news/4045417
[8]http://shiafrica.blogfa.com/post/414
[9]http://shiafrica.blogfa.com/post/299
[10]en.icro.ir “Velayat-e Eshgh” TV series in official and national languages of Senegal
[11]www.iqna.ir/fa/news/3715714
[12]www.yjc.ir/fa/news/6172510
[13]First Iranian TV channel for Africa launched. http://www.iran-daily.com/News/201691.html
[14]http://www.shiafrica55.blogfa.com/post/15
[15]https://www.newsweek.com/nigeria-shiites-clashes-army-leader-arrested-404661
[16]https://ctc.usma.edu/the-islamic-movement-and-iranian-intelligence-activities-in-nigeria/
[17]https://warisboring.com/irans-other-shadow-war-is-in-africa/
[18]https://warisboring.com/irans-other-shadow-war-is-in-africa/
[19]https://www.mashreghnews.ir/news/926945
[20]https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-afghan-and-pakistani-proxies-in-syria-and-beyond