Day: October 11, 2026

Tehran in the Sahel: Iran’s African Shadow Empire

When empires retreat, they don’t always collapse. The ashes of defeat in one theater of combat can become the soil for reinvention in another. So it is with Iran. The Islamic Republic’s deepening involvement in the Sahel, Africa’s lawless midriff, is one such example of strategic migration. Tehran in the Sahel is an extension of Iran’s desire to find room to maneuver, to hide, and to rebuild.