Iran concerned over Sudan border tensions

Iran has expressed deep concerns about the rapid deterioration in relations between Sudan and South Sudan and the escalation of violence unfolding around the two African neighbors’ border areas. IRI Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Sunday that Iran fully monitors the developments in the region, and calls on South Sudan to immediately and unconditionally pull back its forces and return to its territory behind the designated borders. The senior Foreign Ministry official also urged South Sudan to respect Sudan’s territorial integrity, and pursue the implementation of the agreements of June 29 and July 31, 2011, on the establishment of a demilitarized and internationally monitored border area, as well as the cooperation and non-aggression agreement of February 10, 2012. Mehmanparast also invited both countries to exercise restraint and prepare the ground for a settlement of their disputes through negotiation. He stressed that the removal of the tensions between South Sudan and Sudan does not have a military solution, and that Tehran endorses a political resolution of the tensions.