Rumors concerning informal contacts between Morocco and Iran continue and seem to confirm a desire of two countries to initiate a dialogue. After meetings in early November in Rabat and Riyadh, talks would continue in New York.
As a reminder, at the beginning of November, sources close to the matter reported the presence of an Iranian security official with his Saudi and Emirati counterparts in Rabat. Similar informal and unofficial meetings were also held in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia, which recently reconciled with Tehran, played a mediating role, accompanied by the United Arab Emirates in this new meeting between Moroccan and Iranian security officials.
This time, the discussions would have expanded to the diplomatic level and not just the security level since contacts would have been initiated between the representatives of the permanent missions of the two countries at the United Nations level in New York.
However, these discussions remain at an embryonic level given that no official information has been communicated to this effect and the facts on the ground do not seem to augur any reconciliation between Rabat and Tehran who severed their diplomatic relations in 2018.
Rabat had shown grievances against Tehran accused of supporting the Polisario separatists by sending them Iranian-made weapons through Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian embassy in Algeria.
Iran, which has recognized the self-proclaimed “SADR” since 1980, had denied any military link with the separatist group, but even today, Iranian diplomacy acts as spokesperson for the Polisario militia at the UN level in n not hesitating to provoke Morocco.
And as recently as October 15, not even a month before the start of unofficial meetings between Moroccan and Iranian representatives, Iran continued to play the card of activism and support for non-state factions in front of the UN. The representative of Iranian diplomacy at the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, reiterated her country’s support for the Polisario during her intervention at the 4th UN Commission, suggesting that Morocco (without naming it) would be a “power occupant”.
It is precisely this attitude and posture of interference in the internal affairs of several Arab countries that harms Iran. This, in addition to religious interference which wants to spread Iranian Shiite influence in Africa as well as the Middle East, its policy of strategic expansionism in North Africa which takes the form of support for non-state groups and militias threatening the sovereignty of States like the example of the Polisario.
Morocco could open the door to a return to healthier relations with Iran as Saudi Arabia was able to do, but for this, several conditions would have to be met, and at their head is the first national question, the Sahara. Iran should therefore stop its support for the Polisario and show its credentials regarding its religious activism which does not correspond to the values adopted by Morocco.
A reconciliation with Morocco would open the way for Iran to return “soothed” on the international scene. An actor reviled and hated by all for his criticized involvement in several current world issues, notably the case of Syria, Tehran has sought in recent years to improve its image, particularly in the Middle East and among Arab countries.
Morocco, a major player on several fronts, Western, Arab, African and Muslim, thus represents a strategic objective for Tehran, if it can find a way to meet its expectations. Iranian diplomacy has expressed its desire to regain better relations with the Kingdom, however, any reconciliation would be conditional on tangible elements proving its good faith.
