{"id":4969,"date":"2026-03-20T15:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/iran-offers-south-africa-safe-passage-through-strait-of-hormuz-amid-us-tensions\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:23:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:23:18","slug":"iran-offers-south-africa-safe-passage-through-strait-of-hormuz-amid-us-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/iran-offers-south-africa-safe-passage-through-strait-of-hormuz-amid-us-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran offers South Africa safe passage through Strait of Hormuz amid US tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"ai-voice-player-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ai-voice-player-container\" data-theme=\"light\">\n<p>        <!-- Summary Section (Initially Hidden) --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Translate Section --><\/p>\n<div id=\"ai-voice-translate-section\" class=\"feature-section\" style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"feature-content\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <select id=\"ai-voice-translate-select\">&#13;<option value=\"en\">English (Original)<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"es\">Spanish &#8211; Espa\u00f1ol<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"fr\">French &#8211; Fran\u00e7ais<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"de\">German &#8211; Deutsch<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ar\">Arabic &#8211; \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0629<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"zh-CN\">Chinese &#8211; \u4e2d\u6587<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ja\">Japanese &#8211; \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ru\">Russian &#8211; \u0420\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"pt\">Portuguese &#8211; Portugu\u00eas<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"it\">Italian &#8211; Italiano<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"ko\">Korean &#8211; \ud55c\uad6d\uc5b4<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"nl\">Dutch &#8211; Nederlands<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"tr\">Turkish &#8211; T\u00fcrk\u00e7e<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"pl\">Polish &#8211; Polski<\/option>&#13;<option value=\"hi\">Hindi &#8211; \u0939\u093f\u0928\u094d\u0926\u0940<\/option>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <\/select>&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <!-- Read Along Section --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Ask AI Section --><\/p>\n<div id=\"ai-voice-askai-section\" class=\"feature-section\" style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"feature-content\">\n<div id=\"ai-voice-chat-messages\" class=\"chat-messages\">\n<div class=\"chat-message ai-message\">\n<p>\ud83e\udd16<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                            Hi! I&#8217;m here to help you understand this article. Ask me anything about the content!&#13;\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <input type=\"text\" id=\"ai-voice-chat-input\" class=\"chat-input\" placeholder=\"Ask about the article...\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <button id=\"ai-voice-chat-send\" class=\"send-btn\">Send<\/button>&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Iran has offered safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for South African cargo after Pretoria refused American pressure to cut ties with Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Mansour Shakib Mehr, Iran\u2019s ambassador, said his country had a \u201cvery close dialogue and exchange\u201d with South Africa and encouraged other members of the BRICS bloc to lobby the United States to halt the war.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s friendly ties with Iran have become a key source of tension in its already strained relations with Washington.<\/p>\n<p>The African National Congress (ANC)-led government of Cyril Ramaphosa has said its relationship with Tehran stems from a policy of neutrality and non-alignment in global affairs.<\/p>\n<p>However, the US ambassador recently warned that maintaining close ties with Iran was \u201can impediment to good relations\u201d with Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Dane Zangor, director-general of South Africa\u2019s Department of International Relations, rejected the criticism, saying there was no \u201creason to cut ties with Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot be pulled into the sort of sphere-of-influence politics that great powers want to draw us into, and that in this instance includes the US,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranian ambassador said the Strait of Hormuz remained open to \u201cfriendly countries\u201d such as China and India, and had only been restricted for US and Israeli cargo.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cIf the Republic of South Africa is in need of such an action, we are positively and strongly supporting this idea and are able to cooperate with them to pass their cargo and tankers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ANC has maintained close relations with Iran since the 1979 revolution, when the new regime supported sanctions against apartheid.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, South Africa has regularly abstained or voted against United Nations resolutions condemning Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Iran joined the BRICS bloc in 2023, and earlier this year South Africa hosted three Iranian warships for naval exercises off Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p>However, the relationship has come at an increasing diplomatic cost. Alongside South Africa\u2019s ties with Russia and China, and its genocide case against Israel, it has become a flashpoint in relations with Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions have also surfaced domestically. The ANC\u2019s coalition partner in the government of national unity this week condemned what it described as a \u201cschizophrenic and disingenuous\u201d foreign policy towards Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>During an urgent parliamentary debate on South Africa\u2019s response to the Iran crisis, Ryan Smith, an MP for the Democratic Alliance, said the ANC\u2019s attempt to \u201ccondemn all parties\u201d ignored Iran\u2019s \u201cdecades-long sponsorship of terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He accused the party of turning South Africa into \u201cIran\u2019s useful idiots\u201d and \u201ctap dancing around diplomatic double standards\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ronald Lamola, South Africa\u2019s international relations minister, rejected the criticism, saying the government opposed military action and favoured diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHistory offers no record of people being liberated by bombs falling from the sky,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s defence chief, General Rudzani Maphwanya, was last year reprimanded after travelling to Tehran and declaring that the two countries stood together \u201calongside the oppressed and defenceless people of the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The ANC said his remarks did not represent official policy, and Mr Ramaphosa described the visit as \u201cill-advised\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; &#13;English (Original)&#13;Spanish &#8211; Espa\u00f1ol&#13;French &#8211; Fran\u00e7ais&#13;German &#8211; Deutsch&#13;Arabic &#8211; \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0629&#13;Chinese &#8211; \u4e2d\u6587&#13;Japanese &#8211; \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e&#13;Russian &#8211; \u0420\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439&#13;Portuguese &#8211; Portugu\u00eas&#13;Italian &#8211; Italiano&#13;Korean &#8211; \ud55c\uad6d\uc5b4&#13;Dutch &#8211; Nederlands&#13;Turkish &#8211; T\u00fcrk\u00e7e&#13;Polish &#8211; Polski&#13;Hindi &#8211; \u0939\u093f\u0928\u094d\u0926\u0940&#13; &#13; \ud83e\udd16 &#13; Hi! I&#8217;m here to help you understand this article. Ask me anything about the content!&#13; &#13; &#13; Send&#13; Iran has offered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4969"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4971,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4969\/revisions\/4971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}