Morocco ends duties of ambassadors to Algeria, Iran

From Morocco World News:

Morocco has officially ended the duties of its ambassadors assigned to Iran and Algeria.

In its most recent official gazette, Morocco’s government announced that the country’s Foreign Affairs ministry ended the duties of several of its ambassadors, most notably including Morocco’s envoy to Iran Hassan Hami and Moroccan ambassador to Algeria Lahcen Abdelkhalek.

Morocco severed relations with Iran in May 2018, with the country saying it had obtained hard evidence that the Iranian embassy in Algeria was facilitating logistic links between the separatist Polisario Front in Western Sahara and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

It looks like Iran's aggressive moves might have helped push Morocco into wanting relations with Israel's orbit - exactly the opposite of what Iran wanted.

Meanwhile, tensions between Morocco and Algeria reached a new low in August last year, when Algeria announced its decision to sever all ties with Morocco. Many observers saw in the official severance of relations the tipping point of the long-simmering Algerian-Moroccan tensions. 

Long before the official rupture of diplomatic relations, however, the two neighbors' rift reached their highest point in years when the Algerian presidency accused the Moroccan government of being involved in a plot to “sabotage Algeria democracy” and undermine Algerian interests. 

Beyond last summer’s tensions between the two countries, Algeria has long undermined Moroccan interests by challenging the country’s sovereignty over its southern provinces. The Algerian regime shelters, arms, finances, and backs the Front Polisario, the separatist group claiming “self-determination” in the Western Sahara region. 

Israel is often a more reliable ally to Arab countries than other Arab and Muslim countries are.

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