{"id":536939,"date":"2026-03-17T04:18:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T23:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/?p=536939"},"modified":"2026-03-17T04:18:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T23:18:59","slug":"south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington: South Africa has no reason to cut ties with Iran, its director general of foreign affairs said, after the new US ambassador was quoted as saying the country\u2019s association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington. In an interview with Reuters over the weekend, Zane Dangor, director-general of the department of international relations, also rejected some other Trump administration demands, such as dropping South Africa\u2019s genocide case against Israel, scrapping Black empowerment laws or accepting a refugee programme for whites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington: South Africa has no reason to cut ties with Iran, its director general of foreign affairs said, after the new US ambassador was quoted as saying the country\u2019s association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington. In an interview with Reuters over the weekend, Zane Dangor, director-general of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-536939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington: South Africa has no reason to cut ties with Iran, its director general of foreign affairs said, after the new US ambassador was quoted as saying the country\u2019s association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington. In an interview with Reuters over the weekend, Zane Dangor, director-general of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daily Lead Pakistan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DailyLeadPak\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-16T23:18:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Web Desk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DailyLeadPak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DailyLeadPak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Web Desk\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Web Desk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62\"},\"headline\":\"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-16T23:18:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":98,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Top News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-16T23:18:59+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Daily Lead Pakistan\",\"description\":\"Daily Lead Pakistan\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daily lead Pakistan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/logo3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/logo3.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":154,\"caption\":\"Daily lead Pakistan\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/DailyLeadPak\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/DailyLeadPak\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/DailyLeadPak\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62\",\"name\":\"Web Desk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Web Desk\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leadpakistan.com.pk\\\/news\\\/author\\\/edt\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran","og_description":"Washington: South Africa has no reason to cut ties with Iran, its director general of foreign affairs said, after the new US ambassador was quoted as saying the country\u2019s association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington. In an interview with Reuters over the weekend, Zane Dangor, director-general of the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/","og_site_name":"Daily Lead Pakistan","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DailyLeadPak\/","article_published_time":"2026-03-16T23:18:59+00:00","author":"Web Desk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DailyLeadPak","twitter_site":"@DailyLeadPak","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Web Desk"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/"},"author":{"name":"Web Desk","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62"},"headline":"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran","datePublished":"2026-03-16T23:18:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/"},"wordCount":98,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Top News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/","name":"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-16T23:18:59+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/south-africa-rejects-us-pressure-to-distance-itself-from-iran\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/","name":"Daily Lead Pakistan","description":"Daily Lead Pakistan","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#organization","name":"Daily lead Pakistan","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo3.jpg","width":1000,"height":154,"caption":"Daily lead Pakistan"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DailyLeadPak\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DailyLeadPak","https:\/\/instagram.com\/DailyLeadPak\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6ef8309590ff620a99ce35559f54fd62","name":"Web Desk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41f05ebf0a510062a26cf1d9e662155a6901c6733aa66a6c0f61daea3d680dc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Web Desk"},"url":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/author\/edt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":536964,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536939\/revisions\/536964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}