In the early hours of June 13, Israel launched a military offensive against Iran. Since then, the Polisario Front has remained notably silent amid this new conflict initiated by the Israeli state. Brahim Ghali, in a message addressed to the Iranian president, did not express his usual solidarity with the Islamic Republic or the Iranian people. Key spokespersons for the Front have also stayed quiet about the Israeli attacks on their only regional ally, especially following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. Yet, Brahim Ghali rarely missed a chance to send letters to Iran's head of state. His message from January 7, 2024, is a clear example: «The terrorism and massacre of innocents that you have suffered are the same as those endured today by the Palestinian people of Gaza and our people of Western Sahara, carried out by those united under an ideology of murder, injustice, and occupation. This demands the continuation of resistance», he wrote to the Iranian president following the terrorist attacks in Kerman on January 3. This silence comes as efforts in the United States to designate the Polisario as a terrorist organization gain momentum. On June 9, the American magazine The National Interest highlighted in an article that, after losing Syria as an ally, «the main supporters of the Polisario are Algeria and Iran. With such allies, it is clear the Polisario Front should not be recognized as representing an entire nation». Meanwhile, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson has introduced a bill to classify the separatist movement as a terrorist organization. A close ally of former President Donald Trump, Wilson cited the Polisario's ties to Iran in support of his proposal. Iran has recognized the «Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)» since 1980, and Iranian regime representatives regularly attend Polisario congresses. Notably, the United States lists the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah as terrorist organizations—two groups linked to the Polisario.
