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Iran accuses Sudan of paying ‘ransom’ to US for Israel deal

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Iranian foreign ministry slams Sudan, U.S. for “phony” ploy to make peace.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Iran reacted angrily to Sudan becoming the fifth Arab nation to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, saying Saturday that the Sudanese government paid a ransom to Washington for a “phony” deal.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the peace deal between Israel and Sudan, saying the “agreement will enhance Israel’s security and end Sudan’s long isolation from the world.”

Last Monday, Trump announced that Sudan had agreed to pay $335 million to the U.S. in compensation for terror attacks and in return he would remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Iran slammed the move, calling it “a prize for normalizing relations with Israel … revealing that the terrorism list is nothing but an instrument to pressure countries to comply with the U.S. demands,” Iran’s Fars News reported.

“The White House announcement on Sudan couldn’t be more symbolic. Pay enough ransom, close your eyes on the crimes against Palestinians, then you’ll be taken off the so-called ‘terrorism’ blacklist,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on its Twitter account. “Obviously the list is as phony as the U.S. fight against terrorism. Shameful!”

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Sudan became the fifth Arab country to sign a normalization agreement with Israel, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain established ties last month following the signing of the historic Abraham Accords at the White House in September. Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement in 1994 and Egypt was the first Arab country to make peace with the Jewish state in 1979.

Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain all praised the news, with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi tweeting “I value all efforts aimed at achieving regional stability and peace.”

In Europe, Germany’s foreign ministry called the deal “another important step towards greater stability and a more peaceful relationship between Israel and its Arab neighbors,” saying that the “U.S. has played a crucial role in mediating these agreements, for which it deserves thanks and recognition.”

Facing another setback in their policy of rejecting any “normalization” with Israel, a Palestinian official complained that Sudan had become “the third Arab country to stab the Palestinians in the back.”