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Ramaphosa says he had hoped Trump would use his influence to promote dialogue between the warring nations.
President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: @GovernmentZA / X
The South African government said it has “noted with a great deal of anxiety” the entry of the US into the Israel-Iran war.
The Presidency issued a statement on Sunday, just hours after US President Donald Trump said his country had struck three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday night.
Trump said the facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan were “completely and totally obliterated” and warned of further attacks if Tehran refused to “make peace”.
‘Dialogue’
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said Ramaphosa has called for dialogue between Israel and Iran, warning that continued conflict will only lead to further devastation and economic fallout across the globe.
“It was South Africa’s sincerest hope that President Donald Trump would use his influence and that of the US government to prevail on the parties to pursue a dialogue path in resolving their issues of dispute.
“South Africa calls on the United States, Israel and Iran to give the United Nations the opportunity and space to lead on the peaceful resolution of the matters of dispute, including the inspection and verification of Iran’s status of uranium enrichment, as well as its broader nuclear capacity,” Magwenya said.
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Iran response
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the US attack “unforgivable” and said Iran has “to respond based on our legitimate right to self-defence”.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised that the “punishment will continue” against Israel, in his first statement on social media after the US joined the Israeli attacks on Iran.
US confusion
The White House has repeatedly denied that the conflict was seeking to topple the Iranian government.
On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance maintained the US was “not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme”. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told reporters that the “mission was not, and has not, been about regime change”.
However, hours later, Trump appeared to contradict his top officials.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term ‘regime change,’ but if the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn’t there be a regime change?” Trump wrote on his Truth social media platform.
Radiation
Meanwhile, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at key nuclear sites in Iran following the US strikes.
The head of the UN body, Rafael Grossi, said the IAEA would hold an “emergency meeting” at its headquarters in Vienna on Monday in response to the US strikes.
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