Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi reacted to the latest developments in Sudan and said Tehran is “deeply concerned about the power struggle” in the North African country.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mousavi expressed his condolences to the bereaved families of victims of recent killings in Sudan and voiced the country’s “deep concerns” over the incidents.
He further stressed the need to meet the legitimate demands of the Sudanese people and highlighted the importance of a peaceful transition of power to civilians in the country.
The Iranian spokesman urged all parties involved in this crisis to avoid accusing each other and stride to get out of the crisis through adopting political and democratic approaches.
Mousavi also called for the vigilance of the Sudanese people against intervention by some foreign countries, who have a long record in creating valence, extremism, and terrorism.
Sudan’s ruling military council said on Tuesday it was canceling all agreements with the main opposition coalition and called for elections within nine months, following the worst violence since President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April.
The decision by the Transitional Military Council (TMC) is likely to fuel anger among protest leaders who have demanded preparations for elections during a longer transitional period led by a civilian administration.
The TMC had been under both domestic and international pressure to hand over power to civilians, Reuters reported.
At least 35 people were killed when security forces stormed a protest camp outside the Defense Ministry in central Khartoum on Monday amid heavy gunfire, according to a group of doctors linked to the opposition. The group had earlier said that at least 116 people were wounded.
The main protest organizers, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), accused the TMC of perpetrating “a massacre” as it broke up the camp, a charge denied by the council.
TMC spokesman Lieutenant General Shams El Din Kabbashi said security forces were pursuing “unruly elements” who had fled to the protest site and caused chaos.
The camp had become the focal point of pressure on the country’s military rulers to hand over power to civilians.
Sudan has been rocked by unrest since December, when anger over rising bread prices and cash shortages broke into sustained protests that culminated in the armed forces moving to oust Bashir.
But talks between a coalition of protesters and opposition parties have ground to a halt amid deep differences over who will lead a transition to democracy that both sides had agreed will last for three years.
Tasnim News Agency
