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Rabat – The US State Department has lauded the US-Morocco alliance, emphasizing the importance of Rabat as a “close partner” for the US.
In the statement, the state department also reiterated its commitment to support Morocco’s reform agenda under the leadership of King Mohammed VI.
The remarks followed a visit of a high-level Moroccan inter-agency delegation to Washington to discuss bilateral relations.
The visit was part of the “permanent and long-standing relationship between the United States and Morocco on many issues, including human rights,” Morocco’s state media quoted State Department sources as saying.
In addition to describing Morocco as a “close partner” of the US, the State Department stressed that the two countries regularly discuss a variety of topics, including discussions on Rabat-Washington cooperation to advance King Mohammed VI’s reform agenda.
Morocco has in recent years introduced a broad-ranging agenda of social and political reforms, with topics like freedom of expression and association, criminal justice reforms, women’s rights, and gender equality.
“We seek to identify concrete and achievable reforms that we can move forward together,” the State Department’s statement said of the US’ readiness to accompany Morocco on its reform path.
The State Department emphasized that human rights occupy a significant portion of its relationship with Morocco and other partner countries.
The US and Morocco share strong relations, and the bilateral relationship has markedly improved in recent months after Washington recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
As part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords between Israel and a number of Arab countries, former US President Donald Trump expressed unwavering support for Morocco’s territorial integrity in its southern provinces.
To the dismay of supporters of the Polisario Front, who had hoped that a new US administration would annul the Western Sahara decision, President Biden’s government has consistently signaled that it will uphold all the recent agreements between Rabat and Washington.
This is not the first time that the US State Department has presented Morocco as a critical US partner and emphasized the importance of maintaining good relations with the North African country.
In April, Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted the Us’ desire to boost cooperation with Morocco to secure stability and prosperity in the MENA and Sahel regions.
The official also extolled the longstanding and mutually beneficial bilateral ties between Rabat and Washington.
As they celebrated earlier this year the 200th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between their governments, Moroccan and US officials vowed to reinforce cooperation in a wide range of fields, including trade, education, agriculture, expertise sharing in high-tech and culture.
