US Congress Eyes Sanctions on Algeria, Praises Morocco’s Diplomatic Shift

The US Congress is angry with the Algerian authorities. In a letter addressed to the US Secretary of State, it asks Antony Blinken to reveal the list of "regimes qualified as enemies of America" and places Algeria at the top of the list. The American institution calls for the imposition of economic and military sanctions against the Algerian regime, which is supplied with weapons by Russia, reports the Arabic-language daily Assabah.

Wanting to prove that Algeria is one of the world’s major buyers of military equipment from the Russian Federation, Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, provided details on the various arms contracts concluded between Algiers and Moscow. Algeria is said to have acquired new Russian S-500 surface-to-air missiles that "the United States of America considers a dangerous threat to Europe and NATO." This information could prove to be accurate. According to the general director of the Russian government arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, Alexander A. Mikheev, Moscow is already marketing these weapons and favoring allied countries.

While Algeria is in the sights of the United States, Morocco, on the other hand, has been congratulated. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during the celebration of the second anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords and the normalization agreements, hailed the "transformative" progress made and the trilateral agreement to restore relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv, and at the same time reiterated the United States’ commitment to "strengthen and deepen these partnerships."

"We are committed to advancing and developing these agreements between Israel and Arab and Muslim-majority countries in order to strengthen regional security, prosperity and peace," he added.