US Pragmatism on Iran Makes South Africa’s Foreign Policy Look Absurd

The United States (US) and Iran have opened a new round of talks in Oman this week, with officials meeting to explore whether tensions around Iran’s nuclear programme can be stabilised and contained. The discussions come amid heightened regional tension and reflect a broader American effort to reduce escalation risks while reordering its global diplomatic priorities.

That shift matters far beyond the Gulf.

For South Africa, the prospect of even a degree of a strategic reset between those two adversaries illustrates the absurdity of Pretoria being unable to secure even a basic trade and investment pact with the US.

South Africa has positioned itself as a vocal defender of Iran against Western pressure. Pretoria framed Tehran as a victim of American overreach and cast itself as part of a moral coalition resisting US influence. This posture was visible in its diplomatic alignment, its legal activism, and its repeated willingness to confront Washington on issues tied directly or indirectly to Iran and its regional allies and proxies.

That approach rested partially on a belief that Iran would remain locked in permanent confrontation with the US, and that countries willing to defy Washington would gain relevance as intermediaries or symbolic leaders of a new anti-Western bloc.

The collapse of Iran’s proxies, from Hamas and Hezbollah to Venezuela and likely very soon Cuba, has disrupted that logic.

If Washington can pursue even a limited accommodation with Tehran on its own terms, the sustainability of Pretoria’s strategy is very much reduced.

The contrast with India is stark. Unlike South Africa’s pursuit of a diplomatic and ideological relationship with Iran, India has pursued a narrowly defined, transactional relationship with that country, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the Chabahar port to secure access to Afghanistan and Central Asia while carefully insulating that co-operation from its far more important relationship with Washington. New Delhi hedged. Pretoria postured.