BEIRUT — Morocco's decision to sever ties with Iran May 1, after accusing Iranian-backed Hezbollah of training and arming the Polisario Front and seeking independence for the disputed Western Sahara, provoked mutual accusations between Morocco and Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front.
In a June 12 interview with the French Pan-African magazine Jeune Afrique, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita revealed details of Algeria’s “cover, backing and operational support” for meetings held between high-caliber Hezbollah cadres and Polisario leaders in a “hideout” in the capital, Algiers. He claimed that the Iranian Embassy in Algeria served as a link between Hezbollah, Algeria and the Polisario Front.
Bourita said in the interview that he had told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif the names of senior Hezbollah military officials who had visited, on several occasions since March 2017, the Tindouf refugee camps controlled by the Polisario Front in order to supervise training courses, set up facilities and meet with Polisario officials.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi responded in a press conference May 16, saying, “Moroccan officials during their meetings with our foreign minister or during their TV interviews failed to provide any evidence to substantiate these allegations."
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