Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria Michael Freeman has accused Tehran of sponsoring Islamic factions within Nigeria as part of a broader strategy to export global terrorism.
These allegations come amid soaring Middle East tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes against targets in Iran.
The diplomatic friction follows nationwide rallies organized by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN).
On Monday, supporters gathered across Lagos, Kano, Niger, Sokoto, Gombe, Kaduna, Bauchi, and Yobe states to mourn the reported deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and members of his family during the operations in Tehran.
Persecondnews reports that the demonstrators were seen waving Iranian flags and chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans.
In an interview with AriseTV on Friday, monitored by Persecondnews, Ambassador Freeman confirmed that Israel is closely tracking these developments and the groups involved.
“We know there are certain movements, for example, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, that is sponsored and backed by the Iranian regime,” Freeman said.
He added that the Iranian influence stretches well beyond Nigeria’s frontiers into the wider West African region, describing the persistent threats from Tehran as a serious danger.
“For 47 years, Iran has had a policy of death to Israel, death to America. Its entire apparatus, its state structure, has been sponsoring terrorism, sponsoring organizations around the world to kill Israelis, Jews, to spread terror,” he said.
The ambassador highlighted that Nigeria has directly felt the impact of such Iranian-linked violence.
“We have seen Iran spreading terror. We’ve seen them developing a ballistic missile program, and a nuclear program. Nigeria has been on the receiving end of terrorism from Iran,” Freeman noted.
Meanwhile, Iran’s representative in Nigeria, Mahdavi Raja, on Thursday justified recent Iranian missile and drone assaults on United States bases located in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
Raja argued these were appropriate retaliatory steps against prior US and Israeli moves and fell within Iran’s legitimate rights, regardless of the host nations’ ties with Tehran.
Turning to concerns over nuclear development, the Israeli envoy defended the need for strong countermeasures.
“When a country says that they want to destroy you… and they are trying to build a nuclear weapon, it’s absolutely justified.
“Not only is it justified, it’s a moral obligation for a country to take the action needed to stop the country, in this case Iran, which wants to destroy Israel,” Freeman stated.
He listed various militant outfits supported by Iran, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, and referenced past attacks connected to Tehran in places like Argentina, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Australia and Nigeria itself.
“This is a country that sponsors terror, whose Revolutionary Guard is a prescribed terror group across Europe and many other countries around the world. It’s quite clear that Iran is an international sponsor of terror. Any other accusation or claim is absurd,” the ambassador declared.
Freeman, who offered assistance from his country, said: “As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, we are willing and eager to partner with Nigeria according to Nigeria’s needs and desires in order to help tackle instability within Nigeria.”
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