Morocco plays Iran card to get US support on Western Sahara
Morocco is alleging ties between Hezbollah and the Polisario Front to secure the Donald Trump administration’s support for its territorial claims on the disputed region.
Morocco is taking advantage of the Donald Trump administration's hawkish stance on Iran to press its claims on the disputed Western Sahara.
Ahead of his visit to Washington this week, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita indicated in a Breitbart News interview that he would bring up allegations of links between Hezbollah and the Sahrawi independence movement. Rabat is hoping to solidify US support for its position on the resource-rich Moroccan-occupied territory.
“We have an opportunity with this administration,” Bourita told the far-right outlet last week. “We need to make things happen. We have an opportunity also because they are clear in their position about Iran.”
The Moroccan Embassy in Washington told Al-Monitor that Monday's meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — Bourita's first since the May diplomatic break with Iran — was a yearly event with no specific asks or deliverables expected. A brief State Department readout of their meeting, however, mentioned “shared efforts to end Iran’s support for terrorism and counter its malign influence in the region” as the only specific agenda item.
