Algeria remains reserved on Iran war

On a diplomatic level, Algeria has dealt with the war on Iran with extreme prudence, reports Le Matin d’Algerie on 5th March.

The Tebboune regime is maintaining a balance act between preserving longstanding alliances, and navigating the pressures of its developing relations with the Trump administration.

Official statements have so far focused on de-escalation and calling for restraint, as well as defending the sovereignty of Gulf countries who have been targeted for hosting American army bases, calling them “victims of military aggression”. However, they stopped short of blaming Iran.

Its approach to the subject of the Iran war is comparable to its position after the fall of Maduro. Despite support expressed to Venezuela by various politicians, the government remained quiet, with no condemnation of the Trump administration’s actions. By contrast, the North African state had previously been outspokenly against Western interference in the MENA region, and had defended the right of people to self-determination, in particular in defence of the Palestinian and Sahrawi people.

The fall of Maduro and the war on Iran are both significant blows for Algerian diplomacy: Algeria had strong ties to both regimes and shared Iran’s position on conflicts in Syria and Yemen. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had signed a wide range of agreements on trade, communications and energy with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in March 2024, confirming Algeria’s alignment with the Iran-China-Russia axis.

With negotiations on the Western Sahara conflict still ongoing and with the US having pushed for Algeria to review its stance on the territorial dispute, Tebboune seems to be keeping a low profile by not openly taking sides in the ongoing war. The recent reconciliation with France also shows a mellowing of Algeria’s positions, as it tries to avoid finding itself isolated on the international stage.

Le Matin d’Algerie, Maghrebi.org