The Tehran-Alger-Tindouf (polisario) axis has been confirmed with a new and unexpected input, Mauritania. An alliance with this country, as Iran no longer hides its hegemonic ambitions in North Africa and the Sahel by using the Sahara.
Iranian Foreign Minister Houceïn Emir Abdoullahyane met on Wednesday evening with President Mohamed Cheikh Ould El Ghazouani to discuss ways to strengthen relations between the two countries in trade and in the fight against terrorism.
The sponsor of global terrorism is seeking to cultivate its relations with Mauritania in order to establish its hegemony in the north African region and connect it to West Africa.
Nouakchott, which has long feared Tehran’s influence in its territory, has nevertheless come up against the advance of Iranian Shiite dogma. Iran’s formidable weapon for weaving its web, shi’ism is the background and basis of its expansion strategy on the spiritual, cultural, and political levels.
Iran’s destabilizing aims in North Africa and the Sahel and its growing interest in nurturing separatism against Morocco’s territorial integrity
Mauritania’s complacency was officially demonstrated by the reception of the head of Iranian diplomacy by the Mauritanian president when he could have been welcomed by his counterpart at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two parties even discussed the Sahara, although officially the visit was only supposed to focus on trade between Nouakchott and Tehran, and the Mauritanian Information Agency (AMI) deliberately concealed this fact.
But the Mauritanian press revealed the Iranian minister’s statement that makes no doubt about Iran’s interests in the region.
“I thank the Mauritanian president for his constructive and valuable efforts in pursuing the initiative of fighting terrorism and promoting lasting peace and security in Western Sahara. This issue is receiving special attention from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Houceïn Emir Abdoullahyane, quoted by the Mauritanian news website Anbaainfo and other media.
Iran’s destabilizing aims in North Africa and the Sahel and its growing interest in nurturing separatism against Morocco’s territorial integrity, by having elements of the polisario trained by the Lebanese Hezbollah (funded by Iran) and its military equipment, had led Morocco to suspend diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2018.
Iran has also delivered Iranian-made drones to the polisario through Algeria. Tehran has also never hidden its links with the polisario since it has recognized the self-proclaimed polisario “rasd” since 1980 without the international community recognizing it.
Prior to his visit to Mauritania, aboard an Algerian plane, the Iranian Foreign Minister had made similar visits to several Sahel countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger.
In a context of French withdrawal from Africa, Iran – which has always instilled its influence on the continent as a counter-power to the West and the Sunni Arab countries – has found a favourable ground for its incursions into the region, notably by seeking a new ally in Mauritania after having already sealed its partnership with Algeria and indirectly Tunisia.
By adding Mauritania to its list, Iran would have a spectacular opportunity to redraw its political map by signing the axis of evil in North Africa and the Sahel, exploiting Algiers’ animosity towards Morocco, Mauritania’s fear transformed into a grey zone and Tunisia’s political and economic weakness.
It should be noted that Iran’s motivations and the interplay of interests go beyond Morocco, and compete directly with the alliance between Morocco, the United States and Israel, aiming to fill the large hole left by France in Africa and play elbows with other powers.
In North Africa and the Sahel in particular, the Iranian plan aims to deconstruct the regional stability and stable relations of neighboring countries, to recreate a Middle East on fire and weak controlled by the mullahs.
Prior to his visit to Mauritania, aboard an Algerian plane, the Iranian Foreign Minister had made similar visits to several Sahel countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger.
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