Friday, March 6, 2009

Morocco cuts diplomatic relations with Iran

Morocco has cut diplomatic links with Iran, amid a row over comments made by an Iranian politician last week. Iran's former interior minister Ali Akbar Nateq Nuri said Bahrain used to be Iran's 14th province, and that it still had a seat in Iran's parliament.

Rabat led a chorus of disapproval from Arab states, who interpreted the remark as a claim of sovereignty over Bahrain. Now, for Morocco this is not a very costly decision; but we wonder why they did come to the conclusion that ties had to be cut. There must be more behind this, as Tehran issued an apology, claiming Mr Ali's comments had been misunderstood and saying it made no claim to Bahrain. Mr Ali said he was merely making a comparison between the current system of government in Iran and previous systems.

Morocco is accusing the Iranian embassy in Rabat to play a role in trying to make the Kingdom more shiite. Maybe this is a major reason? Or maybe the relationship of Iran with the regime in Mauretania?


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