INTL Niger Severs Ties With US Military After Alarm Raised Junta Will Supply Uranium To Iran

[Plain Jane]

Niger Severs Ties With US Military After Alarm Raised Junta Will Supply Uranium To Iran | ZeroHedge

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Niger Severs Ties With US Military After Alarm Raised Junta Will Supply Uranium To Iran​

BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, MAR 18, 2024 - 08:10 AM
Niger announced over the weekend that it is suspending military cooperation with the United States, in a significant blow to the Pentagon's presence in West Africa, which is likely to result in Washington being forced to withdraw its troops, also in a major blow to AFRICOM's influence on the continent.

Last year's coup saw a military-led government come to power, which from the start signaled rough and uncertain times ahead for US-Niger relations. A Saturday statement by Nigerien junta spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane said, "Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism."

This charge of the US not respecting the West African nation's sovereignty comes in reaction to recent Western intelligence claims that Niger has been engaged in secret talks and deal-making to grant Iran access to its uranium. US officials have also bitterly complained about Niger cozying up to Moscow.

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Niger Severs Ties With US Military After Alarm Raised Junta Will Supply Uranium To Iran​

BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, MAR 18, 2024 - 08:10 AM
Niger announced over the weekend that it is suspending military cooperation with the United States, in a significant blow to the Pentagon's presence in West Africa, which is likely to result in Washington being forced to withdraw its troops, also in a major blow to AFRICOM's influence on the continent.
Last year's coup saw a military-led government come to power, which from the start signaled rough and uncertain times ahead for US-Niger relations. A Saturday statement by Nigerien junta spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane said, "Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism."
This charge of the US not respecting the West African nation's sovereignty comes in reaction to recent Western intelligence claims that Niger has been engaged in secret talks and deal-making to grant Iran access to its uranium. US officials have also bitterly complained about Niger cozying up to Moscow.

Uranium yellow cake, illustrative file image

Col. Abdramane addressed the accusation directly: "The government of Niger rejects the false allegations of the head of the American delegation to maintain that it has signed a secret agreement on uranium with the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.

American officials are now worried about the major drone base only recently built at a cost of $110 million called Air Base 201, which was crucial for Pentagon drone surveillance operations over the region. Likely it will now have to be shuttered.

Since the ouster of President Mahamoud Bazoum by military generals, the Biden administration has been scrambling to find influence amid fears the junta is cementing ties with Russia as well as the two neighboring countries also 'unfriendly' to the West: Mali and Burkina Faso, also led by juntas.

Among the first major acts that Niger’s post-coup government did was to expel France's some 1,500 troops - all of which finally left in December. For months it has been expected that the other big 'imperial power' - the United States - would soon be booted too. The US is commonly estimated to have 1,100 troops in the country.

As for the accusation of deepening ties with Iran and a uranium deal on the table, US officials have made this front and center in meetings with Niger leaders over the past week. Anonymous US officials have told The Wall Street Journal that though not finalized, talks between Niamey and Tehran have reached an advanced stage.

But it appears the junta leaders have had enough, as WSJ details:

Those concerns came to a head over the past week, when Molly Phee, U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, traveled to Niamey for talks with the junta on the two countries’ future relations and what the State Department said would be discussions on “Niger’s return to a democratic path.”
Phee was accompanied by Celeste Wallander, a senior Defense Department official, and Gen. Michael Langley, the head of the U.S. Africa Command, the State Department said.
During the meetings, Phee raised Washington’s alarm with officials in Niger about an agreement with Iran, according to officials in the U.S. and Niger, who described the meetings as very tense. Phee also criticized the lack of progress in returning Niger to an elected government and raised U.S. concerns about the imminent arrival of Russian military trainers and equipment.

With Russia moving in (and especially mercenaries like Wagner fighters), is the US about to hastily be forced out?
DoD file image

Interestingly, the whole thing is eerily reminiscent of the Iraq uranium yellowcake hoax which was crucial in the Bush administration selling the war in Iraq to the public. Currently the big scare over "WMD" and potential nuclear weapons capability is centered on Iran, at a moment the Middle East stands on the precipice of a potential major war connected to Gaza.

And like with Iraq and uranium yellowcake stories from 2003, these new allegations of the possible transfer of uranium from Niger to Iran are sourced to vague intelligence assertions and anonymous officials. But one thing is clear - the Niger junta is busy forging deepening ties to 'rogue' regimes not liked by Washington, and is proudly and openly doing it. The US meanwhile has limited options and can't do anything about it, other than perhaps pinning its hopes on another coup.

 

[Illini Warrior]

Biden sends two women and some Pink General to negotiate with a bloodthirsty junta - those spear chuckers probably nibbled on someone's still beating heart for a snack - the US Trio should be lucky a cook pot wasn't waiting for them ....

that brand new $110M US base - What's Biden leaving behind this time when he orders it abandoned?

 

[Hfcomms]

When even Niger gives you the middle finger how far have you fallen?

 

[Plain Jane]

Biden sends two women and some Pink General to negotiate with a bloodthirsty junta - those spear chuckers probably nibbled on someone's still beating heart for a snack - the US Trio should be lucky a cook pot wasn't waiting for them ....

that brand new $110M US base - What's Biden leaving behind this time when he orders it abandoned?

As I recall it was Victoria Nuland. I'm sure that went over well .

 

[Griz3752]

When even Niger gives you the middle finger how far have you fallen?

Might still have one foot on the ladder

Maybe

 

[Housecarl]

One flight of BUFFs can make that exportation of yellow cake impossible. But the idiots in DC don't have the stamina or brains to do that. Heck, they're the ones that got us here in the first place.

 

[Donghe Surfer]

As I recall it was Victoria Nuland. I'm sure that went over well .

You are correct. When overthrow first happened she jumped on plane to make sure the oil went through the country.
She fuqqs up everything she breathes upon.

 

[Plain Jane]

US military operations across the Sahel are at risk after Niger ends cooperation

The U.S. is scrambling to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region of Africa after the ruling junta in Niger announced it was ending military cooperation with Washington.

apnews.com

US military operations across the Sahel are at risk after Niger ends cooperation​

FILE - In this image taken from video provided by ORTN, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, front center, makes a statement on July 26, 2023, in Niamey, Niger, as a delegation of military officers appeared on Niger State TV to read out a series of communiques announcing their coup d’etat. The U.S. is scrambling to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region of Africa after the ruling junta in Niger announced it was ending military cooperation with Washington. (ORTN via AP, File)
Read More
BY JESSICA DONATI AND SAM MEDNICK
Updated 10:41 AM EDT, March 17, 2024

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United States scrambled on Sunday to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel after Niger’s junta said it was ending its yearslong military cooperation with Washington following a visit by top U.S. officials.

The U.S. military has hundreds of troops stationed at a major airbase in northern Niger that deploys flights over the vast Sahel region — south of the Sahara Desert — where jihadi groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate.

Top U.S. envoy Molly Phee returned to the capital, Niamey, this week to meet with senior government officials, accompanied by Marine Gen. Michael Langley, head of the U.S. military’s African Command. She had previously visited in December, while acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland traveled to the country in August.

The State Department said Sunday in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that talks were frank and that it was in touch with the junta. It wasn’t clear whether the U.S. has any leeway left to negotiate a deal to stay in the country.

Niger had been seen as one of the last nations in the restive region that Western nations could partner with to beat back growing jihadi insurgencies. The U.S. and France had more than 2,500 military personnel in the region until recently, and together with other European countries had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training.

But that changed in July when mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president and months later asked French forces to leave.



The U.S. military still had some 650 personnel working in Niger in December, according to a White House report to Congress. The Niger base is used for both manned and unmanned surveillance operations. In the Sahel the U.S. also supports ground troops, including accompanying them on missions. However, such accompanied missions have been scaled back since U.S. troops were killed in a joint operation in Niger in 2017.

It’s unclear what prompted the junta’s decision to suspend military ties. On Saturday, the junta’s spokesperson, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, said U.S. flights over Niger’s territory in recent weeks were illegal. Meanwhile, Insa Garba Saidou, a local activist who assists Niger’s military rulers with their communications, criticized U.S. efforts to force the junta to pick between strategic partners.

“The American bases and civilian personnel cannot stay on Nigerien soil any longer,” he told The Associated Press.

After her trip in December, Phee, the top U.S. envoy, told reporters she had “good discussions” with junta leaders and called on them to set a timeline for elections in return for restoring military and aid ties. But she also said the U.S. had warned Niamey against forging closer ties with Russia.

Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, which have experienced two coups each since 2020, have turned to Moscow for security support. After the coup in Niger, the military also turned to the Russian mercenary group Wagner for help.

Cameron Hudson, who served with the Central Intelligence Agency and State Department in Africa, said the incident shows the diminution of U.S. leverage in the region and that Niger was angered by Washington’s attempt to pressure the junta to steer clear of Russia. “This is ironic since one mantra of the Biden Administration has been that Africans are free to choose their partners,” he said.

The U.S. delegation visit coincided with the start of Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting and intense prayer for Muslims. Niger’s junta leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, refused to meet them. A U.S. press conference at the embassy in Niger was canceled.

The junta spokesperson, speaking on state television, said junta leaders met the U.S. delegation only out of courtesy and described their tone as condescending.

Aneliese Bernard, a former U.S. State Department official who specialized in African affairs and director of Strategic Stabilization Advisors, a risk advisory group, said the recent visit had failed and the U.S. needs to take a critical look at how it’s doing diplomacy not just in Niger but in the whole region.

“What’s going on in Niger and the Sahel cannot be looked at continuously in a vacuum as we always do,” she said. “The United States government tends to operate with blinders on. We can’t deny that our deteriorating relationships in other parts of the world: the Gulf, Israel and others, all have an influential impact on our bilateral relations in countries in West Africa.”

___​

Mednick reported from Jerusalem. AP diplomatic correspondent Matthew Lee contributed from Frankfurt, Germany.