Iranian drones arrive to threaten Morocco
For decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has engaged in asymmetrical clashes with regional rivals across the Middle East, extending its influence through support for foreign guerrilla groups with military hardware and training.
In recent years, Iran has extended and deepened its influence in a new area: Africa, especially the Sahel and the Maghreb. In countries like Senegal, the Central African Republic and Nigeria, Iran has replicated its game manual in the Middle East, arming and training rebel Shiite groups or otherwise choosing a stake in the local political framework.
In this way, Iran is gaining a foothold in a strategic and resource-rich area adjacent to vital western shipping lanes in the Atlantic Ocean.
Drone transfers through Algeria
Iranian subversion could have the greatest geopolitical consequences in the Sahara region of northwest Africa. With its growing support for Morocco's state and non-state opponents, Iran seeks to undermine a staunch Western ally who serves as a pillar of stability in a troubled neighborhood.
The most serious concern for Morocco is the supply of Iranian strike drones to the Polisario Front . The guerrilla group has been waging a military struggle for decades to detach Western Sahara from Morocco and enjoys the support of Algeria, Morocco's regional rival and antagonist.
Morocco's permanent representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, has repeatedly highlighted the drone transfers through Algeria and warned that Morocco will react "appropriately".
However, Iranian subversion reaches deeper into Morocco through its persistent campaign of radicalization and recruitment of disaffected members of the kingdom's Shia minority.
Iran-Algeria ties
Iran has longstanding economic and military ties with Algeria, and Tehran has admitted to selling military drones to Algiers. To complete the circle, former Polisario interior minister Omar Mansour boasted last year that the group was receiving Iranian drones and would use them to target Moroccan security forces.
Senior Moroccan officials have detailed how Iran has used its Lebanese militia Hezbollah to provide training and military support to Polisario guerrillas based in Algeria's Tindouf refugee camp. This support dates back to 2017 and has long irritated Rabat.
In May 2018, Morocco severed diplomatic ties with Iran for the third time over its support for the Front. Upping the ante, Iran recently deployed units of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Algeria to boost the training of Polisario fighters.
Speaking in the background, Moroccan officials shared information that revealed Algeria has optimized little-used airstrips for drone operations. These airstrips are located in desolate areas of Algeria, near the border with Morocco.
Moroccan officials also traced shipments of military hardware by air from Iran to unspecified countries in North Africa. These shipments, delivered to Polisario fighters via Algeria, included drones, radar equipment and ballistic missile systems.
Regional instability
Iran's growing support for Algeria and Polisario threatens not only Morocco, but also the stability of the entire region. Morocco has long been a strategic bastion in North Africa, a moderate Islamic country with a rapidly growing economy and deepening economic ties with African countries.
These economic and political foundations underlie Morocco's emergence as a reliable strategic nexus between the US/Europe and the entire African continent. THE
Iranian efforts to destabilize Morocco are congruent with Iran's antagonism toward Israel. Relations between Morocco and Israel have rapidly heated diplomatically, economically and militarily in the wake of the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
The agreement formalized a decade-long unofficial cooperation between Morocco and Israel and underlined the Kingdom's centrality in the US policy of strengthening ties with key strategic allies in the Middle East. The fact that the agreements include two African countries (Morocco and Sudan) indicates the strategic importance that Washington attributes to the continent.
The recent deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to normalize diplomatic relations may ease pressure on some major friction points in the Middle East, but it is unlikely to mitigate Iranian expansionary activities in Africa.
In recent years, geopolitical discussions on Africa have focused on what the United States and its European allies can or should do to counter Chinese and, to a lesser extent, Russian activities in the region. It is Iran's growing policy of subversion in Africa – evidenced by the introduction of its military drones into the Sahara – that requires greater attention.
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The article Iranian drones arrive to threaten Morocco comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/i-droni-iraniani-arrivano-a-minacciare-il-marocco/ on Wed, 28 Jun 2023 15:33:22 +0000.