Abstract

Iran’s engagement with the African continent increased significantly throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, driven by economic, political and strategic interests. The first country Iran reached out to in Sub-Saharan Africa was Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia, and the emperor remained the shah’s closest ally on the continent until his downfall in 1974. This relationship was established in 1960, when Haile Selassie’s Solomonic kingdom faced pressures from African decolonisation movements, and when the shah feared the growth of radical regimes sponsored by the Soviets across the Middle East. Addressing a gap in the literature on late Pahlavi foreign policy and drawing on a range of primary source materials, including Dutch and US diplomatic records, memoirs and newspapers, this article evaluates the political relationship between Iran and Ethiopia under the shah and Haile Selassie. It examines what each side gained from the relationship, particularly in the context of regional political developments, and the role monarchism played in drawing the two countries together. The paper investigates the shah’s developing interest in Africa from the 1960s onwards and the position of Ethiopia, not only as a gateway to the rest of the continent but also an area of strategic importance to the shah.

摘要

在整个 1960 年代和 1970 年代，在经济、政治和战略利益的推动下，伊朗与非洲大陆的接触显着增加。伊朗在撒哈拉以南非洲接触的第一个国家是海尔·塞拉西 (Haile Selassie) 的埃塞俄比亚，皇帝在 1974 年垮台之前一直是沙阿在非洲大陆最亲密的盟友。 这种关系建立于 1960 年，当时海尔·塞拉西 (Haile Selassie) 的所罗门王国面临来自非洲的压力非殖民化运动，以及当国王担心由苏联支持的激进政权在中东地区的发展时。解决巴列维晚期外交政策文献中的空白，并利用一系列主要来源材料，包括荷兰和美国的外交记录、回忆录和报纸，本文评估伊朗和埃塞俄比亚在国王和海尔塞拉西统治下的政治关系。它考察了双方从这种关系中获得了什么，特别是在地区政治发展的背景下，以及君主制在使两国走到一起的过程中所发挥的作用。该论文调查了自 1960 年代以来国王对非洲的发展兴趣以及埃塞俄比亚的地位，埃塞俄比亚不仅是通往非洲大陆其他地区的门户，而且还是一个对国王具有战略意义的地区。