The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington-based American think tank, revealed in a recent report that the relationship between Iran and the Polisario Front has become increasingly evident in recent times. This development, it stated, explains Iran’s past threats to close the Strait of Gibraltar—threats that, at the time, seemed implausible due to Tehran’s lack of a military presence or proxy foothold in the region.
According to the report, published Thursday, new revelations by The Washington Post indicated that Iran has been training Polisario fighters—based in Algeria—through its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah. The arrest of hundreds of these fighters in Syria further completes the picture of why Iran had issued such dramatic threats regarding the strategic maritime passage.
The American think tank added that the presence of Polisario militia in Syria signals that the group is now functioning as an Iranian proxy serving Tehran’s regional interests, pointing out that Hezbollah, Iran’s primary proxy in the region, has overseen the training of these militias.
The report recalled Morocco’s previous accusations against Iran for supporting the Polisario via Hezbollah. In 2018, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita stated that Hezbollah, with the assistance of the Iranian embassy in Algiers, had sent surface-to-air missiles—SAM9, SAM11, and Strela—to the Polisario, prompting Rabat to sever diplomatic ties with Tehran at the time.
Further supporting evidence of the Polisario-Iran connection, according to the report, includes a 2022 statement by a Polisario representative claiming Iran would supply them with drones. Weeks later, Morocco’s mission to the United Nations submitted photographic evidence proving the Polisario had acquired advanced weaponry, including Iranian drones.
The report also addressed the significant support the Polisario receives from Algeria, which finances and arms the group, provides its members with passports, and hosts its leadership in the Tindouf camps near the Moroccan border. Algeria, it said, is using the group as a pressure tool against Morocco.
The think tank pointed to a November 2024 attack carried out by the Polisario on a festival commemorating Morocco’s "Green March." Rockets fell near the Algerian border, and Moroccan media reported the assault originated from inside Algerian territory.
The report emphasized that the Polisario Front has links to extremist jihadist groups, noting that Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the former leader of ISIS in the Sahel, previously held a senior position within the Polisario before being killed by French forces in Mali in 2021.
It further warned that the Tindouf camps have become fertile ground for extremism and a recruitment hub for jihadists affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Maghreb, posing a direct threat to regional stability and U.S. interests in Africa.
In conclusion, the FDD urged the U.S. administration to expedite the opening of a U.S. consulate in the Moroccan city of Dakhla as a show of support for Moroccan sovereignty. It also called on Washington to consider officially designating the Polisario Front as a Foreign Terrorist Organization due to its ties with Iran and jihadist groups, as well as its attacks on civilians and Moroccan security forces—America’s key ally in the region.
