As Sudan continues to be torn apart by civil war, Russia and Iran are fueling the conflict with shipments of arms and other goods. The countries are supplying the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with guns, drones, fuel and parts for fighter jets as it battles the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is accused of arming the RSF.
Bloomberg reporter Simon Marks recently spent time in Port Sudan, a strategic location on the Red Sea that is attractive to Russia and Iran. Marks reviewed satellite images and shipping data and interviewed Sudanese officials about deliveries from Moscow and Tehran.
“They’re using that port to get things in and ship things out in the means of gold exports that they’re using to generate funds to afford these supplies fueling the war,” Marks said on Bloomberg Television.
Vying for Port Sudan Presence
Russia, which initially supported the RSF, has for years lobbied for a military base in Port Sudan amid fears of losing its military assets in Syria, a critical link to Africa. In exchange, Russia reportedly offered advanced military hardware, including the S-400 missile defense system, but Sudan rejected the proposal in December 2024.
“We can see that Russia can get their ships [into Sudan] through its so-called ‘shadow fleet’ to deliver fuel,” Marks said. “And we’ve also seen that Iran can quite easily send ships from the Gulf area into Port Sudan and get stuff in, not only at the ports but also at the airport, which has been expanded. The military wing there has had its runway expanded and a hangar built to take care of some of these imports that are coming in.”
Iran has sought to dock a helicopter carrier on Sudan’s coast. Sudan has not yet agreed to this, but analysts with the Robert Lansing Institute for Global Threats and Democracies Studies believe the SAF may soften that position as the war rages on. “We think that Khartoum will not be able to withstand Iranian pressure,” the institute’s analysts wrote.
Iranian Mohajer-6 drones have been vital to the SAF’s success in retaking areas held by the RSF and driving the force out of areas west of Khartoum, the analysts noted. The Iranian drones are effective at identifying targets and require minimal training for users, experts say, but they have also been misused, resulting in civilian deaths.
Iran does this to project power, strengthen its alliance with Sudan and influence the conflict, Eric Lob, associate professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University, wrote in The Conversation. Tehran also has sent drones to Ethiopia.
“In regards to Sudan, arming the SAF helps both Iran’s wider geopolitical goals and its competition with regional rivals, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel,” Lob wrote.
UAE Involvement
Sudan’s Ministry of Defense in early December 2024 accused the UAE of arming the RSF through Chad. During a press conference, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Saleh Aboud said the UAE supplied the RSF with a “new and advanced type of large suicide drone,” while Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim characterized the UAE’s actions as “a clear act of aggression against the state.”
These drones have guided missiles, a wingspan of 5.3 meters and a payload capacity of 50 kilograms of explosives, The Sudan Tribune reported.
Aboud said the drones first were used in an attack on Omdurman in late November. He said the drones were launched from Chad and also claimed that RSF fighters are being trained by Abu Dhabi forces in the UAE, Khartoum and Darfur.
By mid-January, drone attacks on power generation facilities plunged most SAF-controlled areas into blackouts. According to Reuters, the attacks began January 13 on Merowe Dam, the country’s largest.
The blackouts spread five days later after an overnight attack on the al-Shouk power station in eastern Sudan that killed an unknown number of people. Activists told The Sudan Tribune that a power station in Sennar State also was attacked that day, causing a blackout at an airport in Atbara.
Up to an estimated 150,000 people have been killed during the war, and 8.7 million have been forced from their homes. More than half of those displaced are children. In October 2024, more than 135,000 in al-Gezira State alone were displaced over 10 days by a surge of violence, the United Nations reported. Many live with little food or water.
“Words cannot describe this kind of thing,” Mohamed Ahmed, deputy head of the Doctors Without Borders mission in Sudan, told The New York Times. “It’s really a feeling of desperation.”