South Africa rejects US pressure to distance itself from Iran 

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's 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's genocide case against Israel, scrapping Black empowerment laws or accepting a refugee programme for whites.