The presence of religious figures known for their closeness to Hezbollah networks inside Tindouf reveals that the Polisario Front operates as part of an influence system that uses religious discourse as an entry point to legitimize its existence.
Small details often reveal the nature of major transformations before their features are fully formed; events that pass silently sometimes carry deeper signals than the noise. This applies to the recent visit by religious figures from Lebanon and Syria to the Tindouf camps -- a visit that may appear ordinary on the surface, but in reality, resembles a window opening onto a network of influence that is quietly expanding within North Africa.
The faces that appeared in the photos, the organizational context surrounding the delegation, and the status of the reception all suggest that this matter goes beyond religious protocol. It is a calculated step in a trajectory connecting the Polisario militia to the Tehran-Hezbollah axis - a trajectory that is no longer a secret or a fleeting political accusation, but a reality confirmed by reports and evidence accumulating for years.
The presence of religious figures known for their proximity to Hezbollah networks inside Tindouf reveals that the Front is no longer acting merely as a separatist group seeking international recognition, but as part of an influence system using religious discourse as an entry point to legitimize its presence and create ties with an axis working to redistribute the balance of power in the region.
What gives this visit particular weight is that it comes at a sensitive moment when discussion within American institutions regarding the relationship between the Polisario and Iran is intensifying. This discussion has moved beyond the realm of analysis to become official documents presented by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), alongside previous intelligence reports regarding the training of the Polisario Front fighters by Hezbollah, the transfer of elements to battlefields in Syria, and the subsequent return of some to other, equally dangerous arenas.
The arrest of hundreds of Polisario fighters in Syria during the regime's collapse there constituted one of the most revealing moments regarding the nature of this link. It demonstrated that the Front is not merely a political movement, but an organization open to all possible arenas of violence. This partially explains the emergence of names that left Tindouf to lead terrorist organizations in the Sahel, such as Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, who transitioned from a project of separation to a project of cross-border violence.
Reading these overlaps reveals that the Polisario did not evolve politically like natural movements that arise from a clear social base. Rather, it has remained from its inception a fragile entity, always seeking external sponsorship to compensate for the absence of internal legitimacy. This has made it susceptible to infiltration by any axis capable of providing money, weapons, or symbolic support, whether from Algeria, Iran, or others.
Algeria, at the heart of this network, appears today in a position not devoid of contradiction. On one hand, it tries to distance itself from Tehran's policies for fear of the repercussions on its relations with the West; on the other hand, it grants the Polisario Front an open space in which delegations associated with the Iranian axis can operate. This raises the question of the extent of Algeria's ability to control the limits of the game it has opened itself.
This visit also occurs within a tense American context, where Congress is discussing a proposal to designate the Polisario as a terrorist organization. This proposal is based on a series of evidence linking the separatist front to Iran, Hezbollah, and extremist organizations in the Sahel, as well as security incidents witnessed in the region, such as the missile attacks near the Algerian border during the commemoration of the Green March in 2024.
In this framework, the visit carries an undeclared message: the separatist front is not merely looking for political alliances, but for a position within a vast influence network extending from the southern suburbs of Beirut to the African Sahel. This network views North Africa as a new arena for conflict, and the Polisario as a point of leverage upon which to build to target regional stability and disrupt the balances of the Maghreb.
On a psycho-political level, this visit reveals that the Polisario, after decades of inability to build an independent political project, is now searching for the meaning of its existence outside of itself, and for an alternative identity crafted by the powers employing it. having lost the ability to produce its own narrative, it now moves within the narratives of others -narratives that carry within them a project of chaos rather than any clear vision for the future.
Deep down, it can be said that the region stands today before a new phase in which the conflict transcends the boundaries of geography to the boundaries of influence, and in which the Iranian presence in Tindouf transforms into an indicator of the game shifting from the level of political support to the level of establishing an actual foothold in North Africa.
Here, the real question becomes: Can a front with this history of flinging itself into the embrace of external powers be allowed to transform into a full-fledged tool in a regional project aiming to alter the region's balances?
The visit, which the Polisario tried to present as an ordinary event, is nothing but a new step in a deeper path. It is a path that reveals the fragility of the Polisario project and, at the same time, the magnitude of the transformation the region is undergoing, where the interests of Iran, Algeria, and armed groups intersect in a single geographic space, while Washington moves with increasing anxiety, viewing the security of the Sahel and the Maghreb as part of its strategic security.
Thus, it appears that what happened in Tindouf is not an isolated event, but a sign of a more complex phase in which alliances are being reformulated and calculations are mixed - a phase whose impact will persist for years, because when geography shifts in this manner, it does not easily revert to what it was.