SANDF apparently defied presidential orders to remove Iran from a joint naval exercise

The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) appears to have defied orders from President Ramaphosa to withdraw three Iranian warships from the multinational naval exercise Will for Peace taking place in False Bay this week.

But there has been considerable confusion about Iran’s involvement, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) and members of the public are demanding clarity.

The Presidency decided at the weekend that Iran should withdraw its three warships from the exercise, according to sources.

Ramaphosa was clearly concerned about the damage Iran’s participation could do to South African relations with the United States, at a time when the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) was making its way through Congress, and while negative US and international attention on Iran was unusually high because of widespread protests against the government, and the government’s lethal response.

A senior South African official told Daily Maverick on Monday that the defence ministries of all the countries taking part in exercise Will for Peace – notably including the Iranian defence ministry – had agreed that Iran would withdraw from the key sea phase of the exercise, which had been about to begin on Tuesday.

Read more: Iran pulls out of SA’s joint naval exercise amid political tensions

Yet on Tuesday, the three Iranian navy ships, which arrived last week, were still in False Bay. The Iranian corvette IRIS Naghdi appeared to have sailed out to sea with warships of the other participating countries – South Africa, China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates – to take part in the exercise.

The SANDF posted a statement on its Facebook page on Tuesday, saying naval vessels had left Simon’s Town for the sea phase of the exercise.

“The four naval vessels forming part of the exercise consist of the United Arab Emirates corvette, Bani Yas, Russian corvette, Stoikiy, South African frigate, SAS Amatola, Iranian corvette, Naghi and Chinese destroyer, Tangshan,” the SANDF said, counting four ships, but actually listing five.

It added: “Other participants such as the Ethiopian, Egyptian and Indonesian [navies] will serve as observers during the course of the exercise.”

Mysteriously, this notice was later deleted from the SANDF’s Facebook page.

The combination of murky circumstances left many questions unanswered: had Defence Minister Angie Motshekga herself defied Ramaphosa’s orders? Or was it the SANDF and/or SA Navy which had defied his orders? Or was it Iran that simply refused to go home, some also speculated.

Or had there been a huge misunderstanding? Had Ramaphosa’s orders been badly communicated to the SANDF and SA Navy? Perhaps the IRIS Naghdi had only observed the sea phase of the exercise on Tuesday, and perhaps the SANDF had simply been wrong in the statement it posted on its Facebook page that Iran had participated.

The fact that the statement said “four naval vessels” had participated in the exercise, but then listed five, added to this impression.

Naghdi sets sail

Daily Maverick understands that the instructions emanating from the Presidency had been clear that the Iranians should not participate in the sea phase of the exercise in any way, including as observers.

A senior source told Daily Maverick that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), which had been involved in the discussions and decisions about Iran’s withdrawal, held an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon to try to fathom what had apparently gone wrong. Daily Maverick was, however, unable to find out that the meeting had concluded.

Military sources also pointed out that if there had been a misunderstanding on Tuesday about the nature of the agreement for Iran to withdraw from the sea phase of the exercise, this could and should have been resolved later on Tuesday. Why then did the IRIS Naghdi head out to sea again on Wednesday, apparently to participate again in the exercise?

Daily Maverick sent questions to the SANDF, but had not received a reply before publication. Neither the Presidency nor Dirco replied to questions either, apart from referring the questions to the SANDF.

African Defence Review Director Darren Olivier posted on X that Iran is evidently deciding to ignore the wishes of South Africa’s President in South Africa’s own waters by sending the Naghdi out to sea.

Olivier added that the surprising arrival of the Shahid Mahdavi, a vessel from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) Navy, rather than the regular Iranian Navy, especially caused a stir as many countries have sanctioned the IGRC.

“Iran’s decision to send it was clearly provocative,” said Olivier.

“This is the most bizarre military exercise I’ve ever covered, both in terms of how it has been organised and in the absolutely shambolic handling of Iran’s participation.

“It’s increasingly looking like, despite senior officials confirming that Ramaphosa ordered Iran to be excluded, the government as a whole is now avoiding the execution of that order with no apparent response from the President.

“I can think of only three reasons to explain this situation. Either senior officials lied to the media and foreign representatives, or Motshekga and the [Department of Defence] are ignoring a legal presidential order, or it has been decided to try to have it both ways and bluff and bluster long enough that the exercise will be over before any action is taken.

“Given that China is leading the exercise, it’s possible that SA faced so much resistance that it was felt impossible to actually implement the decision to exclude Iran.

“If that’s the case, it’s not a good strategy. The same countries that pressured South Africa will view it just as poorly,” said Olivier.

DA demands answers

DA defence spokesperson Chris Hattingh demanded “clear answers about the role of foreign warships” in the exercise, saying so far there had been “confusion, contradiction and secrecy”.

“Yesterday [Tuesday], the SANDF posted that four naval vessels would take part in the sea phase of the exercise, but then listed five ships.

“That post has since been removed and deleted without explanation.

“This matters because the SANDF communication explicitly presented the Naghdi as an active participant. Yet the public was simultaneously told that Iran was not participating. This contradiction has never been explained.

“It was then observed that Naghdi appeared to leave Simon’s Town with the other ships before remaining in False Bay. As of this morning, all three Iranian vessels remain in South African waters. The SANDF has not clarified whether they are participating, observing or withdrawn, and on whose authority any change in status took place.

“This lack of clarity has been made worse by the cancellation of media briefings. A briefing scheduled for Saturday was postponed to Sunday and then cancelled. Only a small group of media houses was invited, and no open briefing has been held. This is in sharp contrast to previous multinational naval exercises, which were conducted openly with regular public communication.

“This level of secrecy is unacceptable. These are not routine naval visits. They involve sanctioned states and carry real diplomatic and economic risks for South Africa.

“The minister of defence must urgently brief the public and Parliament. South Africans deserve to know who approved these invitations, what legal and sanctions advice was considered, why official communications were contradictory and removed, and why transparency has been abandoned.

“Transparency and accountability are not optional. They are constitutional obligations.”

SANDF, Dirco at odds

One thing is clear, and that might account for the apparent friction: the SANDF and Dirco have had different perceptions about this exercise for a while. This was originally branded as Mosi III, the third in a series of naval exercises involving only SA, Russia and China.

Mosi I was held in 2019 and Mosi II in February 2023, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The timing sparked considerable controversy. Mosi III was originally scheduled to be held in November 2025.

However, the SANDF announced early in the year that Mosi III would be postponed indefinitely because it would coincide with the G20 summit, which SA was hosting in Johannesburg. Clearly, the SA government anticipated that the coincidence of the two events would be poorly viewed by the US and other Western nations.

But in December, the SANDF announced that instead of Mosi III, exercise Will for Peace would be held among nations of the BRICS-Plus group this week. That group includes not only South Africa, Russia and China, but also Brazil, India, Iran, the UAE, Ethiopia, Egypt and Indonesia. Saudi Arabia is sometimes counted in, but has never formally accepted membership.

Because of the change, Iran and the UAE were added to the participants, and the Ethiopian, Egyptian and Indonesian navies sent observers, according to the SANDF statement.

But neither Dirco nor, apparently, India and Brazil, accepted exercise Will for Peace as a BRICS or BRICS-Plus exercise in large part because BRICS has no military cooperation agreement. Brazil and India have been conspicuously absent from the joint naval drill.

This week, the full US House of Representatives adopted a Bill to extend Agoa, which had lapsed in September, for another three years. The Bill does not exclude South Africa or any other specific nation. But this does not mean South Africa is safe. It could still be kicked out of Agoa in either a routine or a special review of its eligibility.

The House Bill has now gone to the Senate for its consideration. DM