Iran, Morocco ties to be restored after 6 year break

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Morocco reportedly plans to restore diplomatic relations with Iran, which were interrupted six years ago.

Morocco’s Foreign Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar, said Morocco will send its ambassador to Iran in the near future, Mehr news agency reported.

Iran-Morocco relations have often been tarred by disputes. On several occasions, Iran and Morocco have largely, or completely, severed diplomatic relations.

Relations between Iran and Morocco were broken off in 2009, when Tehran distributed an official communiqué concerning relations between Morocco and Bahrain.

At that time, Sunni Muslim Morocco severed ties with Iran, accusing Shiite Tehran of making "inopportune remarks" about Rabat's support for Sunni-ruled Bahrain's regime.

A leading Iranian official had said Bahrain was once Iran's 14th province and that it had a representative in the Iranian parliament.

Former Interior Minister of Iran Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri was the author of these remarks, which were strongly criticized by Arab countries. The Arab countries expressed their dissatisfaction with the statements of the Iranian politician and perceived them to be a threat to the independence of Bahrain.

Bahrain was not the only issue to hasten the end of relations between the two countries. A statement by the Moroccan foreign ministry, published at the time, revealed other issues that had remained out of the spotlight.

Rabat also denounced alleged attempts by Iran to "change the religious fundamentals" of Morocco, claiming that was an "intolerable interference" in the kingdom's internal affairs.

Iran, however, denied the accusations of interference.

In 2014, Rabat and Tehran signaled a warming of diplomatic relations, as Iran appointed an ambassador to Morocco.

Iran officially announced the appointment of Mohammad Taghi Moayed, a career diplomat familiar with the Maghreb, who previously served in Tunisia.