Recent reports indicate an increased covert effort by the Iranian regime to access uranium and gold resources in African countries such as Niger.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported, citing officials from Niger and the United States, that Niger has decided to end its counterterrorism alliance with Washington.
In August 2023, the presidential guard of Niger launched a military coup against President Mohamed Bazoum.
From the outset, it was evident that military dominance in this former French colony could complicate Western efforts to assist countries in West Africa in combating extremist insurgencies that have spread from Mali over the past decade.
Niger’s decision to terminate military cooperation with the United States deals a serious blow to America’s efforts to contain the widespread extremist insurgency in the West African Sahel region.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this decision could impact the $110 million base established by the United States in Niger for operating surveillance drones over West Africa.
Additionally, it may force over 600 American troops stationed in Niger to leave the country.
Concerns arise regarding the transfer of uranium from Niger to Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reports that senior US officials and other Western countries have recently obtained information indicating that the Nigerien military government is secretly considering a deal with Iran, granting the Iranian regime access to some of Niger’s vast uranium reserves.
According to this report, negotiations for such an agreement continued in a meeting between Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine and Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on January 25.
The Wall Street Journal continues that the two sides have signed a preliminary agreement allowing Tehran to acquire uranium from Niger.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, had previously supervised uranium extraction in Iran and the production of yellowcake by the country, but Tehran has halted this oversight.
Reports of Iran’s efforts to access uranium in Niger are related to the past year and after the military coup in the country.
Similar reports were published over a decade ago when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the then-president of Iran, visited Niger.
According to French news agency reports quoting Nigerien officials, in 1984, the Iranian regime asked the Nigerian military government to buy uranium.
Iran’s greed extends to other African countries.
Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, three neighboring countries in the African west coast, are currently ruled by coup leaders, and the Iranian regime has established close relations with them.
Burkina Faso is a major gold producer in the world but does not yet have any uranium mines.
In recent years, various reports have been published about the presence of uranium traces in some areas of Burkina Faso.
