South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry posted a photograph of a senior official Tuesday with a portrait of Ayatollah Ali Khameni, the so-called “Supreme Leader” of Iran, a she signed a “condolence book” for Iran in Pretoria.
The “Department of International Relations and Cooperation” posted images of Deputy Minister Anna Thandi Moraka visiting the Iranian embassy and signing the condolence book, near a portrait of Khamenei.
It was not clear what the “condolences” were for. Most of Iran’s senior military command, which has been engaged in missile attacks and terror attacks on Israeli civilians, was killed by Israel during the 12 Day War.
Deputy Minister Moraka signing the book of condolence at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Deputy Minister is received by the Amb o Iran Mr M Shakib Mehr
— DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) July 1, 2025
📷: Jacoline Schoonees/DIRCO pic.twitter.com/gT4gNN2EQa
South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has been considered close to Iran, amid unproven suspicions that it also has received funding from the Iranian regime. But the government itself — until now — attempted to portray itself as non-aligned, deflecting criticism of the ANC’s behavior by citing the theoretical distinction between the ruling party and the state.
Iran murdered 27 civilians in its missile attacks during the war, and killed one Israeli soldier home on leave. Thousands more were injured and displaced.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
