In Morocco, a Draft to Dodge Radicalization

The diplomatic spat puts the United States, hypersensitive to any inkling that Iran's influence abroad is growing, in an interesting position. In late July, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Robert Karem met with Morocco's minister of national defense to reinforce bilateral military and security cooperation. According to local newspaper Assabah, which is owned by a media company that is owned by the Moroccan king, the U.S. sees Morocco as the western tip in a strategic alliance with Sunni nations to contain Shiite Iran. Morocco has shown its support for Washington's anti-Iran efforts by backing U.S. sanctions and warning local financial institutions and businesses not to engage in trade with Iran. Diplomatic sources told Assabah that this anti-Iran bloc would also include the Gulf states, Jordan and Egypt, giving it a reach beyond the Middle East and into North Africa. (It's worth noting that the U.S. also has other security concerns in North Africa, like checking the size and strength of the Islamic State and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.)