The government has cut diplomatic relations with Iran and given its embassy staff 48 hours to leave the country in a move apparently linked to a mysterious arms seizure in Nigeria in October. Weapons, including artillery rockets, stored in 13 containers labelled "building supplies" were seized in the port of Lagos by the Nigerian authorities on October 6th. The shipment originated in Iran and was reportedly initially destined for a recipient in Nigeria. After sitting in the port for weeks, the containers was shipped to The Gambia (at the behest of the Iranian shipper), at which point the arms were discovered and seized. On November 22nd The Gambia cut relations with Iran, giving no explanation for the abrupt change in stance towards a previous ally, and denying that the seized weapons were behind the decision. The move took Iran by surprise, although it quickly looked to blame the US; the head of the Iran Foreign Policy parliamentary commission said that the US had put pressure on The Gambia over the decision because "Iran's growing ties with African countries had caused concern in the US".

It appears that the decision to end diplomatic relations with Iran was linked to the weapons haul. Initial speculation suggested that the weapons were being supplied to assist a coup attempt in The Gambia. However this was rebutted when the Reuters news agency reported that it had seen a shipping document that named the farm of The Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh, as the delivery address. Reuters also quoted a Senegalese security source who said that the weapons might have been destined ultimately for Senegalese rebels, whom The Gambia has been accused of backing. The Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, said that he was "disturbed" by the issue. The Senegalese authorities have frequently accused The Gambia of providing sanctuary for Casamance separatist rebels (July 2007, The political scene), while The Gambian authorities have speculated that Senegal harbours Gambians plotting to topple the government in Banjul. The decision to cut ties will not be sufficient to distance the country from the weapons seized, but in this context could be seen as a sign of Mr Jammeh's disappointment at being found to be associated with the shipment. The accusations threaten to derail relations with Senegal, which had improved earlier this year (April 2010, The political scene).