Editor's Note: Eliot Pence is a Director at the Whitaker Group, a corporate strategy firm focused on sub-Saharan Africa with offices in Washington, DC and Accra, Ghana. Mehrun Etebari is a senior research assistant at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution

By Mehrun Etebari and Eliot Pence– Special to CNN

Iran’s efforts to build an African buffer against international pressure have hit a snag. With 54 countries (more votes than any other region) and growing influence in multilateral forums, Africa has been the focus of much of Iran’s economic and diplomatic engagement over the past several years. As recently as 2010, the Economist warned of “a new power in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Ideologically, the Islamic Republic has also long trumpeted its support of Third Worldism and sympathy for the economic and political struggles of sub-SaharanAfrica against the perceived neo-imperialism of the western powers. But the continent may not be the friend Iran was looking for. A combination of diplomatic missteps and growing interest in Africa’s energy feedstocks by some ofIran’s biggest customers threaten to further isolate the country. FULL POST