For decades, the relationship between Algeria and Iran has been quietly resilient, shaped by strategic diplomacy, mutual respect, and timely intervention in moments of crisis.
On April 8—just two months before tensions exploded into open conflict between Israel and Iran—President Abdelmadjid Tebboune welcomed Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi at El Mouradia Palace. Araghchi delivered a formal invitation from Tehran, hoping to host the Algerian leader. Now, with war reshaping the regional landscape, that visit is likely on hold. Still, the gesture reflected the enduring strength of Algeria-Iran ties.
When Israel launched a military operation against Iran on June 13, Algeria was quick to denounce the attack, calling it a blatant act of aggression made possible by unchecked impunity. Of the three North African nations, only Algeria voiced clear support for Iran—a position consistent with its long-standing foreign policy and shared opposition to Israel.
Algeria and Iran: A History of High-Stakes Diplomacy
Their alliance isn’t recent—it stretches back to the 1970s when Algeria, under President Houari Boumediene, played a key role in settling a border dispute between Iran and Iraq over the Shatt al-Arab waterway. After months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, the Algiers Accord was signed in March 1975 by Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, temporarily ending hostilities.
That same decade marked a golden age for Algerian diplomacy, when the nation became a trusted mediator on the global stage. Just four years after brokering peace between Iran and Iraq, Algiers found itself thrust into the heart of another international crisis: the 1979 U.S. embassy hostage situation in Tehran.
With more than 60 American diplomats taken hostage by Iranian revolutionaries, tensions escalated quickly. A failed rescue attempt in April 1980 only deepened the crisis. As pressure mounted, the U.S. turned to Algeria. Then-Foreign Minister Mohamed Seddik Benyahia led the talks that eventually resulted in a deal: the U.S. would unfreeze Iranian assets and refrain from meddling in Iranian affairs, while Iran agreed to release the hostages. On January 20, 1981, 52 Americans were flown to safety—via Algiers.
A Diplomatic Rift and Its Fallout
But not all chapters in the relationship were smooth. In the early 1980s, Benyahia again took on the role of peace broker during the Iran-Iraq war. Tragically, he never completed the mission. His plane was shot down near the Turkey-Iran border in 1982. Algeria blamed Iraq after presenting evidence to Saddam Hussein, who admitted responsibility but whose offer of compensation was declined.
Despite its early friendship with Iran, Algeria grew increasingly wary in the 1990s. As Islamist insurgencies escalated at home, Algeria’s government suspected foreign support—including from Iran—for militant groups operating within its borders. In 1993, Algiers severed diplomatic ties, a rupture that lasted until 2001.
A Slow Reconciliation
It took nearly a decade for relations to thaw. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reopened the door with Iran, visiting the country in 2003 and 2008 and welcoming Iranian leaders to Algiers multiple times. Though a planned return trip in 2010 was called off, Bouteflika consistently backed Iran’s right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
That history—of trust built, broken, and rebuilt—still echoes today. As the Middle East braces for further uncertainty, Algeria’s steady voice in Iran’s corner highlights a bond shaped less by spectacle and more by shared principles, historic favors, and the enduring currency of diplomacy.
