Is Iran widening its shadow war with West?: Kenya this week sentenced two Iranians convicted of plotting attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets while three Nigerian terrorist suspects allegedly trained in Iran are awaiting trial in the West African state on similar charges.
Increasingly, Africa seems to be emerging as a new front in the shadowy clandestine war between the Islamic Republic and its leading enemies.
A few weeks ago, British arms-trafficking investigators said they had found evidence that Tehran has been secretly shipping arms and ammunition to Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, the Ivory Coast and South Sudan -- all African states plagued by conflict.
These shipments, made over several years, don't appear to be directly linked to terrorist plots in Africa, or anywhere else but they underline the scale of destabilizing covert operations in which Tehran's intelligence chiefs are engaged.
It also reflects Iran's increasing focus on developing its political and intelligence interests in Africa, in large part to counter Israel's advances across the continent in its quest for diplomatic -- and intelligence -- allies.
