Foreign & Public Diplomacy

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Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: South Africa faces economic fallout and a diplomatic balancing act in the face of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, Africa’s largest refinery seeks to insulate Nigeria’s economy from global oil price shocks, and the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is postponed until the summer.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: South Africa faces economic fallout and a diplomatic balancing act in the face of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, Africa’s largest refinery seeks to insulate Nigeria’s economy from global oil price shocks, and the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is postponed until the summer.

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Pretoria’s Balancing Act

Since the outbreak of the United States and Israel’s war with Iran, South Africa has navigated a precarious diplomatic landscape, seeking to mend strained relations with the United States despite its historically close relationship with Iran, a fellow BRICS member.

Pretoria has effectively taken a nonaligned stance on the conflict. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for peace and referred to the operation as an act of “[a]nticipatory self-defence” that is not permitted under the United Nations Charter.

Iranian-South African ties have been strong for decades. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Tehran publicly supported the African National Congress’s (ANC) anti-apartheid movement, even as it privately sold vast amounts of oil to apartheid South Africa. Bilateral relations have remained strong despite the ANC having lost its 30-year parliamentary majority in 2024.

Yet recently, as the ANC has faced domestic pushback over its overt ties with Iran and sought to placate U.S. President Donald Trump, Pretoria has made subtle moves to distance itself from Tehran.

In February, Ramaphosa launched a probe into how Iran came to participate in recent China-led BRICS naval exercises off the coast of Cape Town. Ramaphosa reportedly ordered defense officials to limit Tehran’s status in the drills to an observer after its deadly crackdown on Iranian protesters in January, but Iran ended up being a full participant. The United States has publicly criticized South Africa for Iran’s involvement: “South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cozying up to Iran,” the U.S. Embassy in South Africa wrote on X........

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