
‘Where Are You?': Iranians Mock African Nation of Djibouti for Cutting Ties
Iranians took to social media to mock Djibouti after the small country located in the Horn of Africa cut ties with Tehran.

Iranians took to social media to mock Djibouti after the small country located in the Horn of Africa cut ties with Tehran.

On Wednesday, the Sunni nations of Qatar and Djibouti announced they would be severing diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, becoming the 9th and 10th nations to officially cut relations, roll back ties, or condemn the Shiite theocracy in the past week.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has set up camps in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa, to care for the thousands of Yemenis fleeing the civil war. The agency needs more help, but now Iranian state media claim Djibouti turned away humanitarian aid.

Contents: Indonesia and Malaysia back down and accept stranded Rohingya migrants; Iran backs down and allows inspection of aid ship to Yemen;

The international diplomatic and military crisis sparked by Iran’s decision to send an “aid” vessel directly to Yemen–along with an escort of warships–rather than to the international coordinating point in Djibouti was the latest escalation in Iran’s attempt to assert its new dominance as a regional power. Notably, Iran’s tactics mirror those used by Palestinian activists, backed by Turkey, in the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, when an Islamist “aid” ship challenged the Israeli navy off Gaza.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded over the weekend that the EU “must admit Turkey” as a member state to prove that it rejects “Islamophobia.”