Washington, DC — he military regime in Niger on Saturday revoked “with immediate effect” the military cooperation agreement with the United States dating from 2012. The decision followed several days of tense discussions involving a delegation of senior American officials who visited the capital Niamey last week – a trip apparently triggered by growing concerns that Niger was moving towards an uranium sales deal with Iran.
In a video announcement posted on X and Facebook , a day after the U.S. officials departed, Amadou Abdramane, speaking for the ruling military council, criticized a “condescending attitude” by the delegation leader, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Molly Phee. “The Government of Niger, taking into account the aspirations and interests of its people, denounces with immediate effect the agreement relating to the status of military personnel of the United States and civil employees of the US Department of Defense on the territory of Niger,” Abdramane said.
Military leaders ousted the elected president, Mohammed Bazoum, in July and established a ruling council – the Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP) to run the country.
The U.S. delegation included the head of U.S. Africa Command (Africom), General Michael Langley, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander and the U.S. Ambassador, Kathleen FitzGibbon. The delegation was received on March 14 by Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine – who was appointed last August as prime minister and finance minister by the military junta – but the U.S. officials did not meet with the leader of the military regime, Abdourahamane Tiani before departing on Friday.
The Americans “failed to follow protocol”, Abdramane said. Niger was not informed about the composition or arrival date of the delegation. Following the announcement, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “We are aware of the statement from the CNSP in Niger, which follows frank discussions at senior levels in Niamey this week about our concerns with the CNSP’s trajectory. We are in touch with the CNSP and will provide further updates as warranted.”
The State Department announcement prior to the visit said the purpose was to discuss “Niger’s return to a democratic path and the future of our security and development partnership.” But the alarm bells that apparently moved the trip to the priority list was intelligence suggesting “a preliminary agreement that would allow Tehran to obtain uranium from Niger” was nearing completion, according to a story by a four-person Wall Street Journal reporting team published Sunday.
“The government of Niger rejects the false allegations of the head of the American delegation that it has signed a secret agreement on uranium with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Abdramane said in his statement, adding the Niger has the right to select diplomatic and military partners. He added that Niger has ties long-standing relations with Iran and has transparent “state-to-state” relations with Russia, another concern reportedly raised by the U.S. officials. Niger, along with Mali and Burkina Faso – two neighbors who are also now led by military juntas – has boosted ties to Russia while severing ties with France, their former colonial ruler.
Niger has been a key American ally in the Sahel region. “There were about 1,100 U.S. troops in Niger as of last year, where the U.S. military operates out of two bases, including a drone base known as Air Base 201, built near Agadez in central Niger at a cost of more than $100 million,” according to Reuters. “Since 2018 the base has been used to target Islamic State militants and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, an al Qaeda affiliate, in the Sahel region.