US embassy in Pretoria criticises Iran’s participation in naval drill off Simon’s Town

January 16, 2026

The US embassy has condemned the South African military for allegedly defying presidential orders by allowing Iran to join naval exercises in False Bay. Labelling Iran a ‘state sponsor of terror’, US officials said the move undermined regional stability. Meanwhile, South Africa has called on Iran to allow peaceful protests amid a violent crackdown on dissent in the country.

The US embassy in Pretoria has expressed concern and alarm about reports that South African Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) defied the SA government’s orders that Iran should not participate in the joint naval exercise in False Bay this week.

Peter-Iran-military-US — Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga. (Photo: Gallo Images / OJ Koloti)

“Iran is a destabilising actor and state sponsor of terror, and its inclusion in joint exercises – in any capacity – undermines maritime security and regional stability,” the US embassy posted on the social media site X on Thursday.

“It is particularly unconscionable that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces as they were shooting, jailing and torturing Iranian citizens engaging in peaceful political activity South Africans fought so hard to gain for themselves. South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cosying up to Iran,” the embassy said.

“And permitting Iranian military forces to operate in South African waters — or going to Tehran and expressing solidarity — isn’t ‘non-alignment’; it’s choosing to stand with a regime that brutally represses its people and engages in terrorism,” the embassy added.

The reference to going to Tehran to express solidarity with Iran apparently referred to a visit by senior SANDF officers to Tehran last year when the Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, expressed strong support for Iran.

SA called a ‘US adversary’

The embassy’s criticism followed a posting on X earlier this week by Senator Jim Risch, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said that the US should take strong action against SA and that President Donald Trump was right “to treat South Africa’s government for what it is; an adversary of America”.

Risch said the ANC-led government “hides behind a claim of non-alignment, yet its military hosts drills with America’s chief adversaries”.

This criticism has been sparked by exercise Will for Peace, a joint naval drill which ended off Simon’s Town on Thursday, involving navy ships from Iran, Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

Last weekend, according to a senior South African government source, the South African government won the agreement of all the defence ministries participating in the exercise, including Iran’s, that Iran should withdraw from the exercise.

Pretoria feared that Iran’s presence in the exercise would further exacerbate its already very fraught relations with the US and jeopardise its chances of being included in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which was to be revived and extended by a vote in the House of Representatives on Monday.

The South African government felt this was a particularly sensitive moment to be conducting military drills with Iran when the Iranian government was cracking down lethally on protesters.

SANDF ‘defied orders’

But the SANDF apparently defied orders from the Presidency to get Iran to withdraw as the country continued to participate in the exercise.

The SANDF was evidently unwilling to explain its decision. On Thursday, it cancelled a media briefing about the exercise that had been scheduled to take place on Friday on board the SA Navy frigate SAS Amatola, which participated in exercise Will for Peace.

Meanwhile, SA’s Presidency eventually issued a statement on Thursday expressing concern about Tehran’s crackdown on protests, calling on Iran to allow its people to protest peacefully.

“The reports of unrest and the subsequent loss of life are concerning, and South Africa urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint,” it said.

“South Africa firmly believes that the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression and freedom of association are universal human rights that must be upheld without exception.

“We, therefore, call on the Iranian authorities to ensure that citizens exercise their right to protest in peace.

“Sustainable peace and stability can only be achieved through solutions that centre the agency of the Iranian people.”