Boston Herald: Iranian drones deployed in North Africa pose threat to Morocco

The Iranian drones, which are being deployed in North Africa, are posing a direct threat to Morocco, said American daily Boston Herald, noting that Moroccan diplomats are actively raising the issue with Western governments.

In an Op-Ed published lately, columnist Llewellyn King said that the Mullah regime, in collusion with Algeria, is supplying the Polisario militias with these new weapons.

Iran supplies military drones to the insurgents of the world, to Russia for use in Ukraine and its proxies across the Middle East, said the daily, explaining that Iran’s experience with drones goes back to the war Iran and Iraq fought between 1980 and 1988.

In those days, drones were used only for surveillance. Since then, Iran has built generations of drones, large and small, but increasingly sophisticated. They were helped by captured U.S. drones, which they re-engineered, incorporating the latest technology.

According to Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, Iran has come to the conclusion that its strength is not in force-on-force competition but in aiding asymmetric conflicts. This is why they spent so much money and time on terrorism and ballistic missiles before they hit upon drones as the evolution of this strategy.

“Morocco is right to be worried”, said the U.S. columnist, stressing that drones may not enable its users to win a war but they can inflict severe damage on various targets, from tourist centers to military installations to vital power grids and power stations.

Drones are light, cheap and easily transported and hidden. Today’s generation of Iranian drones can carry substantial ballistic loads, loitering for as long as 24 hours and sending back vital material on critical infrastructure.

There is a drone arms race taking place in the Middle East. After Iran, the largest manufacturer of drones in the region is Turkey — even small but wealthy countries like the United Arab Emirates are building drone manufacturing capabilities.

At present, Morocco’s strategy is to alert the world to the changing dynamics in the region and to the vulnerability of almost any country to drone attack.

“What the Iranians bring to the table is that it is known that they are the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, now moving into Africa, enhancing the capability of their proxy groups,” Berman said.
“Morocco is right to be worried, but so is the world”, concluded the U.S. daily.