Fez – More than three years after Morocco cut diplomatic ties with Iran over Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s collusion with the Polisario Front, divergences between Rabat and Tehran are now resurfacing as Morocco protests Iran’s plan to extend its ideological influence to Africa.
Speaking on January 31, Iran‘s Foreign Minister’s spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, dismissed Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita’s latest remarks about Morocco’s determination to counter Iran’s strategy to expand its ideological and military influence in Africa.
Khatibzadeh denounced the Moroccan chief diplomat’s comments about “Iran’s plans to infiltrate Africa and expand Shiite ideology on the continent.” He described Bourita’s remarks as baseless, claiming they were “unfounded projections.”
Reports in the Moroccan press have noted that Bourita’s last week speech during parliamentary session focused on the question of the “spiritual” security of Moroccans and Africans in general, vowing to protect the continent from Iranian interventionism.
According to sources quoted in converging reports by many Moroccan outlets, Bourita spoke of Tehran’s growing attempts to infiltrate Africa — especially West Africa — in order to disseminate Shiite philosophy.
In addition to his comments at the parliament, Morocco’s chief diplomat also held a videoconference last week with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf.
The meeting was an opportunity for both parties to reiterate their commitment to deepening strategic cooperation and collaboration to face common regional threats.
Read also: Morocco, Gulf Countries Seek to Further Cooperation
Bourita reiterated Morocco’s opposition to Iranian meddling in the internal affairs of GCC members, particularly Bahrain. He also reaffirmed Morocco’s condemnation of the Iran-backed Houthi group’s attacks on civilian and economic targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
On December 30, 2021, Morocco officially ended the duties of its envoy to Iran, Hassan Hami. Rabat had recalled Ambassador Hami from Tehran in May 2018, when Morocco cut ties with Iran while citing strong evidence of Iranian logistical aid to the separatist Polisario Front.
As he announced the news of Morocco’s decision to cut ties with the Iranian regime, Bourita insisted Rabat had “irrefutable proof” that the Iranian embassy in Algeria was facilitating relations between the Polisario in Western Sahara and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant organization.
The Moroccan chief diplomat notably said that Rabat had documents, and satellite photographs, demonstrating that the Iranian proxy had been providing military training and support to the Polisario Front.
Observers have long accused Iran of seeding sectarian rifts in the Middle East through proxy war. Iran is also working to build land corridors across the region in order to improve its capacity to move fighters and supplies from one battlefield to the next.
