Iran Denies Morocco’s Claims on Supporting Polisario Front

The Iranian foreign ministry has rejected the Moroccan government’s allegations that it has backed the Polisario Front, a rebel national liberation movement that aims to end Moroccan presence in the Western Sahara, describing such accusations as “unfounded and void of truth.”

“We emphasize once again that one of the pillars of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in its relations with other governments and countries of the world is deep respect for the right of sovereignty, security and non-interference in others’ internal affairs,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bahram Qasemi said, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

The Moroccan government announced on May 1 that it has severed its diplomatic relations with Tehran, accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, of supporting the Polisario Front by training and arming its fighters via the Iranian embassy in Algeria.

“Hezbollah sent military officials to Polisario and provided the front with ... weapons and trained them on urban warfare,” Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told reporters. Morocco will close its embassy in Tehran and will expel the Iranian ambassador in Rabat, he added.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has refuted the allegations in a statement, saying, "It is regrettable that Morocco is resorting to pressure from the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia to direct these false accusations.”

On May 2, Algeria summoned the Moroccan ambassador to reject accusations that Algiers had played any role in alleged Iranian support for the Western Sahara independence movement, according to Reuters.

Morocco's neighbor Algeria hosts camps for people displaced by the conflict and supports the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people there, but denies giving military aid to the group.

The Western Sahara has been split by an earthen wall separating an area controlled by Morocco that it claims as its southern provinces and territory controlled by the Polisario, with a U.N.-mandated buffer zone between them.

Polisario fought a guerrilla war for independence until a UN-backed cease-fire was established in 1991. The UN has repeatedly failed to broker a settlement over the territory, which Polisario says belongs to the Sahrawi people.

In 2009, Morocco cut diplomatic links with Iran, accusing it of questioning Sunni rule of Bahrain. Diplomatic relations between Iran and Morocco were restored in 2014. The bilateral ties were never strong, as Rabat enjoys close ties with Tehran's regional rival, Saudi Arabia.