A Sudanese Islamist figure fighting alongside the national army has appeared in a video circulating online, voicing support for Iran and threatening to send fighters if US and Israeli ground forces enter the country.
In the clip, Al Naji Abdullah, described online as a figure within Sudan’s Islamic movement that supports the armed forces, says Sudanese “mujahideen” would stand with Tehran.
“We support Iran and we say it from here in Sudan,” he says in the footage, using incendiary language.
“If the Americans and the Zionists deploy ground forces in Iran, we will send forces from among us to confront them. We say this openly … we will send all our battalions to fight there.”
The undated video surfaced amid a broadening regional conflict following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, and as Sudan’s civil war increasingly overlaps with wider regional rivalries.
Since the war erupted in 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Islamist networks have mobilised fighters in support of the army and regained influence within the military camp.
At the same time, Sudan’s military leadership has strengthened ties with Tehran. Iran and Sudan restored relations in 2023 after years of rupture, and analysts say Tehran has since provided military support, including drones and other weapons, to help the army in its fight against the RSF.
Western officials and analysts have also warned that Islamist factions aligned with the army have been among the strongest opponents of international ceasefire initiatives aimed at ending the civil war in Sudan.
