Strained Tehran Ties a Thing of the Past: Moroccan MP

Deputy speaker of the lower of house of Morocco’s parliament says the issues hindering the development of relations with Iran in the past were just a “passing cloud” which has been cleared now.

“We think that [these issues] are gone. Our relations in the fields of diplomacy, politics, and economy have returned to normal now,” Abdelwahed Ansari told ISNA on Tuesday.

Morocco and Iran officially resumed diplomatic relations on Dec. 31, 2016 when Ambassador Hassan Hami presented his credentials in Tehran. The event was the culmination of a gradual re-establishment of relations initiated by Iran two years earlier, when it named a new ambassador to Morocco.

The re-establishment of ties followed a seven-year period of tension. Rabat severed ties in 2009 over what it called Tehran’s interference in Morocco’s internal affairs.

Ansari said he hoped Tehran-Rabat would see “stronger and deeper relations” which could serve the interests of both sides.

“I think now is not a good time to focus on negative issues, we have to pay attention to positive issues and try to expand our relations,” he concluded.