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U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday reiterated his support for ongoing efforts in the Senate and House of Representatives to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization.
In an interview with Medi1 TV, the Texas Republican once again pointed to what he described as ties between the Polisario and the Iranian regime. He warned that this relationship could have implications for maritime security in and around the Strait of Gibraltar.
«The Iranians are interested in Morocco’s geographic proximity to Europe and the Strait of Gibraltar. That is why Iran has aligned itself with the Polisario Front, with the aim of securing a sphere of influence that extends beyond Morocco», he said.
Given what he views as a growing threat, Cruz argued that adding the Polisario to the U.S. list of terrorist organizations is necessary to help protect international trade routes passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Iran has previously threatened maritime routes
The concerns raised by Cruz echo statements made by Iranian officials in the past. In December 2023, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, threatened to disrupt navigation through the Strait of Gibraltar as a «sign of solidarity with Gaza». Days earlier, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement had targeted shipping traffic in the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea, according to Saudi media reports at the time.
Supporters of the designation effort argue that, in the western Mediterranean, the Polisario is Iran’s only potential ally capable of advancing its strategic interests. In March 2017, Polisario militias published photographs of small boats supplied by Algeria and intended for patrol operations off the coast of the Sahara. Observers noted similarities between those vessels and the speedboats used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Polisario also carried out attacks in Atlantic waters between the late 1970s and 1986, primarily targeting Spanish fishing vessels and naval ships.
Cruz raised similar concerns in April during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing involving Monica Jacobsen, the U.S. State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator. At the time, he said he believed Iran was «actively working» to replicate in Africa the model it developed with the Houthis in Yemen, using the Polisario as a proxy.
His latest remarks came a day after Democratic Representative Mark Veasey joined legislation introduced in June 2025 by Republican Representative Joe Wilson and Democratic Representative Jimmy Panetta seeking to add the Polisario to the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.
