Morocco cut its diplomatic ties with Iran on Tuesday over its involvement in the armament of the Polisario Front. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita accused Tehran of supplying Polisario with weapons through the Lebanese “Hezbollah” group. He told reporters that "a first shipment of weapons was recently" sent to thePolisario Front, which is seeking independence, via an "element" at the Iranian embassy in Algiers. He said that Iran and “Hezbollah” were supporting Polisario by training and arming its fighters, via the Iranian embassy in Algeria. "Hezbollah sent military officials to Polisario and provided the front with ... weapons and trained them on urban warfare," Bourita said. He was speaking upon his return from Tehran, where he said he informed his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif about Moroccos decision. Rabat soon will shut its embassy in Tehran. Soon after the announcement, Bahrain announced its strong support of Morocco’s decision. United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash said: “We support Morocco in its stand against Iran’s meddling in its affairs.” The Polisario and Morocco fought for control of Western Sahara from 1975 to 1991, with Rabat taking over the desert territory before a UN-brokered ceasefire in the former Spanish colony. Rabat considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco and proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory, but the Polisario Front insists on a UN referendum on independence. On Friday the UN Security Council backed a US-drafted resolution that urges Morocco and the Polisario Front to prepare for talks on settling the decades-old conflict. It also renewed for six months the mandate of a UN mission that has been monitoring the ceasefire in Western Sahara since 1991. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have been deadlocked since the last round of UN-sponsored talks in 2008. Morocco maintains that negotiations on a settlement should focus on its proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara and rejects the Polisarios insistence on an independence referendum.