Morocco–Saudi Arabia relations () refers to the current and historical relations between the

Kingdom of Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and t ...

and

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. Morocco has an embassy in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

and Saudi Arabia has an embassy in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

. Both the two

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

nations have long and traditional friendly relations based on many historical commons. Both Morocco and Saudi Arabia are monarchies ruled by the respective families of the

'Alawis The Alawi dynasty () – also rendered in English as Alaouite, Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning dynasty. They are an Arab Sharifian dynasty and claim descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his ...

and the Al-Sauds, adhere to

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

, and their relationship is described as traditionally strong. Both the countries are members of the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

. The two countries then experienced hiatus in relations for a year, before the

February 2019 Warsaw Conference February 2019 Warsaw Conference, commonly known as the US-led Middle East conference in Warsaw, took place on 13 and 14 February 2019 in Warsaw, capital of Poland. The conference was hosted by Poland and the United States. According to the joint ...

once again stabilized the relations. In the past, both Morocco and Saudi Arabia led a campaign which successfully made the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

an official language of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

History

Contact between the two sides goes back to a long time before the establishment of the

first Saudi state The first Saudi state (), officially the Emirate of Diriyah (), was established in 1744, when the emir of a Najdi town called Diriyah, Muhammad I, and the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab signed a pact to found a socio-religious r ...

, when the sultan of Morocco Ismail bin Sharif sent an important message to the

Emir of Mecca The Sharif of Mecca () was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the Holiest sites in Islam, Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The term ''sharif'' is Arabic for "noble", "highborn", and is used to desc ...

Saad bin Zaid. When the reform movement of Sheikh

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī (1703–1792) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, theologian, preacher, activist, religious leader, jurist, and reformer, who was from Najd in Arabian Peninsula and is considered as the eponymo ...

appeared, a message arrived from the

Hijaz Hejaz is a historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al-Bahah. It is thus known as the "Western Province ...

to Fez to convey the call of Sheikh Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and that was during the reign of Sultan

Sulayman Sulayman (Arabic: سُلِيمَان ''sulaymān'') is an Arabic name of the Biblical king and Islamic prophet Solomon meaning 'man of peace', derived from the Hebrew name Shlomo. The name Sulayman is a diminutive of the name Salman (سَلْما ...

, who commissioned the scholars of the villagers to respond to the message, so he sent his son Ibrahim at the head of the delegation of pilgrims and scholars to respond to that message. The Moroccan sultan Sulayman was inspired by this Islamic revivalist movement and used his authority to condemn the use of music and dance in religious ceremonies, and banning pilgrimages to saintly shrines and religious festivals, even having the

qubba A ''qubba'' (, pl. ''qubāb''), also transliterated as ḳubba, kubbet and koubba, is a cupola or domed structure, typically a tomb or shrine in Islamic architecture. In many regions, such as North Africa, the term ''qubba'' is applied commonly f ...

over his father's grave removed in 1812, arguing that it was excessive ornamentation.

Recent relations

Iran

Morocco and Saudi Arabia have together taken steps to curb Iranian influence in the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. Morocco and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

resumed diplomatic relations in 2015, however Morocco cut diplomatic ties with Iran on 1 May 2018 after it supported the separatist

Polisario Front The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Spanish language, Spanish: ; ), better known by its acronym Polisario Front, is a Sahrawi nationalism, Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to end the occupatio ...

in the disputed

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

militarily and financially against Morocco. Saudi Arabia is also cautious and hostile of Iran, especially with the

Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in a proxy conflict over influence in the Middle East and other regions of the Muslim world. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wa ...

. In 2019, both Morocco and Saudi Arabia sent delegations to participate in the

. The conference saw both two nations once again stabilized the relationship to normal, with both denounced Iran together.

Western Sahara status

Saudi Arabia has typically supported Morocco over the dispute of

and doesn't recognize the legitimacy of

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only ...

. It also supported Morocco by sending economic and military aid during the

Western Sahara War The Western Sahara War (, , ) was an armed conflict between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (and Mauritania from 1975 to 1979), being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The confl ...

(1975–1991). Saudi Arabia also helps fund several projects in the region with support from Moroccan authorities. In February 2019, Morocco ended its involvement in the

Saudi-led intervention in Yemen On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sa ...

, with foreign minister

Nasser Bourita Nasser Bourita (; born ) is a Moroccan diplomat serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates since 5 April 2017. Education Bourita was born in Taounate Taounate () is a town in northern Morocco, ...

citing "developments on the ground" in Yemen, "especially in regards to the humanitarian situation". Saudi state television network

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

later aired a documentary challenging the Moroccan claim to the Western Sahara. Morocco responded by recalling its ambassador to Saudi Arabia. However, ties between the two were enhanced after a few years.

Yemeni Civil War

During the current Yemeni Civil War, Morocco participated as part of the anti-

Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...

coalition led by Saudi Arabia, with 6 warplanes and 1,500 troops, and ended its participation in February 2019.

Qatar crisis

Morocco has taken neutral stance in the conflict, hoping for a better resolution that would benefit

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, the former having participated together with Morocco in the anti-Houthi campaign. Morocco even offered to act as a mediator to slow the tensions between the two Gulf Arab states.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Morocco has an embassy in

and consulate-general in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

. * Saudi Arabia has an embassy in

References

External links

Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in RiyadhEmbassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Kingdom of Morocco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morocco-Saudi Arabia relations

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...