“I have read the article published in American daily newspaper The Wall Street Journal. The news story is false and fabricated,” Ali told the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2024 in the southwestern Turkish city of Antalya on Sunday.
He made clear that Iran has “never asked Sudan to establish a base there. I paid a visit to Iran lately, and the issue was never raised during my stay”.
Earlier in the day, The Wall Street Journal daily claimed that Iran had sought permission from Sudanese authorities to set up a permanent naval base on its Red Sea coast.
The newspaper quoted a senior Sudanese intelligence official as saying that Iran offered Sudan advanced weaponry, including a helicopter-carrying warship, in exchange for consent to build the base.
The official, Ahmed Hassan Mohamed, alleged that the base would have allowed Iran to “gather intelligence” and “station warships” near the vital Suez Canal and the Israeli-occupied territories.
