Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps is training and arming the Polisario Front, an anti-Western rebel group in Morocco, sparking renewed fears of World War 3, it has been reported.
The Polisario Front, which was founded in 1973, has waged a four-decade war against the Moroccan government in a pledge for the independence of the Western Sahara region.
Dore Gold, an Israeli diplomat, said: “I am told by reliable sources that the IRGC has now spread its tentacles into the Western Sahara conflict and is helping the Polisario.
“It’s doing this via its embassy in Algeria, using it as a base.”
Mr Gold added: “Iran believes it has to spread the Islamic revolution, and it’s been trying to do this ever since 1979.”
Tehran is already facing severe international condemnation for interfering in conflicts in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Donald Trump said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards actions across the Middle East was one of three reasons he pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal earlier this month.
The deaths of dozens of British soldiers in southern Iraq has also been blamed on the Quds Force, after it was reported they helped Shia rebels build devastating IEDs.
Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat said the new allegation were “concerning”.
Mr Tugendhat said: “The IRGC has been undermining allies of the United Kingdom for the best part of 30 years.
“Rumours of Iran’s involvement in the affairs of more countries are concerning.”
These latest revelations come after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei issued demands for EU powers to buy Iranian oil.
Mr Khamenei vowed to resume the nation’s nuclear weapons programme if the European countries do not cave in.
He said: “If Europeans hesitate in responding to out demands, Iran is entitled to resume its nuclear activities.”
Mr Khamenei also declared Iran could no longer have any dealings with the US, saying: “The Islamic Republic cannot deal with a government that easily violates an international treaty, withdraws its signature and in a theatrical show brags about its withdrawal on television.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to impose new penalties if Iran does not agree to make sweeping changes to its nuclear programme and withdraw itself from the Syrian civil war.
The White House warned it was ready to impose “the strongest sanctions in history”, creating further tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Source » express