Severance of Iran-Morocco ties: Algiers responds to Rabat's "baseless" allegations

Algerian authorities rejected Wednesday as "completely baseless" Morocco's allegations in the aftermath of the cut of diplomatic relations with Iran, over the alleged Teheran's support of the Polisario Front implicating "indirectly Algeria."

Morocco's ambassador to Algiers was received Wednesday by the secretary general of the ministry of Foreign Affairs who expressed "Algerian authorities' rejection of the completely baseless statements, made by its Foreign Minister while announcing the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Morocco and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and which indirectly implicate Algeria," said the spokesman of the ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdelaziz Benali Cherif.

The Foreign Affairs' spokesperson responded to the allegations made, the day before, by Morocco's minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Nasser Bourita, who announced at a news conference in Rabat that Morocco had decided to cut diplomatic relations with Iran over its "support" to the Polisario Front, the legitimate and only representative of Western Sahara people.

The Polisario Front, which dubbed "big lie" Morocco's allegations of military relations between the Polisario and Iran, defied Rabat to produce evidence for its "false allegations."

Polisario Front's coordinator with MINURSO (UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), M'hamed Khadad, said Rabat acted out of political opportunism to "circumvent the resumption of direct political negotiations called for by the United Nations" for the settlement of Western Sahara conflict through a referendum on Saharawi people's self-determination.

Khadad denied any military relations with Iran, saying "the Polisario Front has never had military relations, has never received arms and has never had military contacts with Iran or Hezbollah".

Iranian authorities said the accusations are "completely baseless, far from reality and wrong."

They stressed that "one of the most fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran's foreign policy in its relations with other governments and countries in the world has been and continue to be deep respect for their sovereignty and security as well as non-interference in the domestic affairs of other states."

Lebanese Hezbollah also rejected Morocco's accusations, saying it was regrettable that Rabat had given in to foreign "pressure."

The Lebanese political party invited "Morocco to look for more convincing argument to sever its ties with Iran." (SPS)