Burkina Faso’s safety minister headed to Tehran on Nov. 12, 2025, for high-level talks with Iranian officers. The consult with used to be a fruitful one: The West African country reopened its Iranian embassy, finalized new agreements on safety cooperation and held discussions about strengthening members of the family in agriculture and trade.
Some distance from being a regimen bilateral diplomatic match for each international locations, the commute used to be a part of a broader pattern. Because the onset of conflict in Gaza in overdue 2023, sparked by means of the Tehran-aligned and -funded Palestinian crew Hamas, Iran has discovered itself increasingly more remoted and dealing with plenty of political and financial crises. The world over, Tehran’s community of proxy nonstate teams around the Center East, its so-called axis of resistance, used to be stretched to a snapping point with Israel’s brutal campaigns in opposition to Hamas and Hezbollah, in addition to the autumn of the Assad regime in Syria in overdue 2024.
Tehran’s regional difficulties then culminated with a punishing 12-day conflict with Israel in June 2025, which america joined, and the next EU-imposed U.N. “snapback” sanctions – a sequence of consequences in opposition to Iran that had been to start with lifted after it signed a deal in 2015 proscribing Tehran’s nuclear program in go back for the easing of sanctions.
On most sensible of this, Iran is now dealing with an environmental disaster within the form of critical drought affecting the capital.
As Iranian officers try to climate this rocky new truth, they have got seemed to advance geostrategic pursuits somewhere else. As knowledgeable on Iran’s overseas coverage, I consider one key emergent space for that is Africa, the place Iran has greater its outreach to traditionally unswerving and strategically important companions comparable to Burkina Faso. This outreach has created necessary alternatives for Tehran to have interaction with international locations on problems comparable to safety and demanding minerals, whilst additionally increasing its marketplace for guns and different exports whilst bypassing sanctions.
Safety, uranium and financial system in West Africa
Along with Burkina Faso, Iran has intensified its outreach to different African international locations in West Africa and the Sahel area, comparable to Mali and Niger.
Because the early 2020s, those international locations have skilled army coups and distanced themselves from the West. They have got additionally faced severe safety threats from rebels, militias and jihadists. In consequence, and as used to be the case with Ethiopia, they have got seemed towards Iran as a safety spouse and a possible provider of fingers, drones and different apparatus.
For Iran, increasing members of the family with those African international locations holds the advantage of opening up economically essential markets, together with metals and minerals. For example, Tehran has aspired to get admission to gold from Burkina Faso and Mali, and uranium from Niger. Relying at the extent of the wear and tear and destruction to Iran’s nuclear program all the way through the 12-day conflict, the prospective uranium procured from those international locations may well be specifically essential if Iran comes to a decision to reconstitute or weaponize its program.
After the Iranian and Malian overseas ministers met in Might 2024, they did so once more the next yr in October to talk about reinforcing bilateral and multilateral members of the family.
To this finish, each countries agreed to carry a joint financial fee and to turn unity and reinforce at conferences of global organizations such because the U.N. and the Non-Aligned Motion.
In the meantime, in April and Might 2025, Iran and Niger signed financial and safety agreements after previous inking a deal wherein Tehran would gain 300 lots of uranium for US$56 million.
Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi delivers a speech on the 51st assembly of the Council of Overseas Ministers of the Group of Islamic Cooperation on June 22, 2025.
Elif Ozturk / Anadolu by the use of Getty Photographs
From February to October, Iran additionally seemed to deepen diplomatic members of the family with Sierra Leone by means of protecting bilateral conferences with the West African country. Aside from making an attempt to get admission to uranium, Tehran sought Sierra Leone’s reinforce in multilateral establishments such because the U.N. and the Group of Islamic Cooperation.
That stated, Sierra Leone, whilst serving as a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Safety Council, voted in opposition to lifting sanctions on Iran in September, due partly to the African country’s dependence on British support.
Outreach alternatives in Africa
Along with its engagement with international locations in West Africa, Iran has additionally seemed somewhere else at the continent for spaces of strategic importance.
Between October and November 2025, Tehran coordinated with Malawi on circumventing sanctions and uploading airplane.
In August, Iran sought to enhance safety ties with South Africa – its greatest buying and selling spouse at the continent by means of a long way. On the time, the South African military leader, Gen. Rudzani Maphwanya, made statements supporting Iran and criticizing Israel that created controversy. Between April and October, Iran held conferences and signed agreements with Zimbabwe within the spaces of financial system, the surroundings and scientific tourism.
Whilst attending the Non-Aligned Motion’s assembly of overseas ministers in Kampala in October, Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and thanked him for Uganda’s condemnation of the U.S. and Israel all the way through the 12-day conflict, all the way through which Uganda evacuated 41 scholars from Iran. Araghchi additionally expressed Tehran’s hobby and intent on strengthening cooperation with Kampala in agriculture, the financial system and trade.
For Iran, Uganda is strategically necessary as it possesses no longer simplest uranium but additionally cobalt, which is used to fabricate lithium batteries, superalloys and different commercial merchandise.
Iran’s strategic conundrum has simplest worsened after a large number of overseas and home demanding situations.
Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Anadolu by the use of Getty Photographs
How Iran remains to be constrained
Whilst Iran has greater its outreach to dependable and important African companions around the continent, it has encountered plenty of consequential constraints.
For one, there remains to be in depth business festival from Iran’s Center East competitors. As just lately as 2023, the United Arab Emirates used to be a most sensible export spouse for Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Uganda and Zimbabwe, in addition to a most sensible import spouse of Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Because it had accomplished with a number of international locations within the Horn of Africa in 2016, the UAE, along Saudi Arabia, may just power others at the continent to scale back or get rid of their engagement with Tehran.
Specifically with the U.N. snapback sanctions now again in position, the continuing truth of world financial power on Iran may just additionally give African international locations pause when making an allowance for more potent bilateral ties with Tehran. But sooner than then, or even with the U.S. reimposing sanctions on Tehran after retreating from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, those international locations didn’t merely forestall attractive with Tehran.
The general constraint is the transactional nature of Iran’s outreach. This would create mistrust amongst its African companions. In November 2025, as an example, Tehran reportedly equipped drones to Eritrea as tensions escalated between it and Ethiopia. This sort of transfer by means of Iran may just complicate its dating with Ethiopia and put Tehran in the midst of any other struggle between the ones international locations.
Time will inform whether or not the alternatives outweigh the restrictions as Iran makes an attempt to forge nearer members of the family with the continent. But for presidency officers in Tehran weathering sundry crises at house and out of the country, it’ll really feel like they have got few possible choices than to hunt alternatives the place they may be able to to find them.
