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Algeria summons Morocco envoy over Iran claims

(L to R) Algerian and Moroccan flags

Algeria has summoned Morocco’s ambassador over allegations that its embassy in Rabat was involved in alleged Iranian support for a West Saharan separatist movement.

“Morocco’s ambassador has been received today by the Secretary General at the foreign ministry who rejected the unfounded remarks,” ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Morocco cut its diplomatic ties with Tehran, claiming that the Iranian Embassy in Rabat would lend support to the Western Sahara Polisario separatist militants.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975, and since then the territory has been the subject of a dispute between Rabat and the Polisario Front.

The movement, which aims to end Morocco’s presence in the Saharan region, recently said they sought to set up a “capital” in the region, prompting Rabat to caution it would respond with force.

Morocco said the Iranian Embassy would extend the support to the militants via the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's members.

Hezbollah has also strictly rejected the allegation, saying in a statement that Morocco had decided to cut ties with Iran under “American, Israeli and Saudi pressure.”

The Saudi Arabia-dominated [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Persian Gulf's Arab littoral states, has, however, supported Morocco's accusations.


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