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Doha – Damascus authorities have officially confirmed the shuttering of premises occupied by Polisario separatists in the Syrian capital, delivering a devastating blow to the militants’ fading aspirations for legitimacy and regional relevance.
The confirmation came during a visit by a Moroccan technical delegation tasked with preparing the reopening of Morocco’s embassy in Syria after a 13-year closure.
A joint mission comprising Moroccan officials and high-ranking Syrian authorities conducted an on-site inspection to verify the effective closure of the separatist group’s office in Damascus.
Syrian officials reaffirmed their commitment to respecting Morocco’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, explicitly rejecting any form of support for separatist entities.
This move represents a tangible manifestation of Syria’s firm determination to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Morocco and promote regional stability. The decision by King Mohammed VI to reopen Morocco’s embassy in Damascus signals the dawn of a new era in Moroccan-Syrian relations.
The embassy’s reopening, announced on May 17, comes after fundamental disagreements with the now-collapsed Assad regime had prompted its closure in 2012.
King Mohammed VI stressed that this diplomatic reestablishment “will open broader perspectives in the historical relations between our two countries and our two peoples.”
Assad’s Syria armed separatists covertly
Ongoing disclosures continue to unmask the depth of the former Assad regime’s complicity with the Iran-backed Polisario separatists—exposing, one after another, the covert channels, political favors, and ideological alliances that long sustained the militants’ fabricated cause.
Evidence has mounted conclusively linking the separatist militia to Tehran’s malign regional activities. An April comprehensive analysis by the Hudson Institute brought to light that the Polisario “receives drones from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) through transfers facilitated by the Algerian regime” and routinely “smuggles arms to jihadist insurgencies that threaten American forces across the Sahel.”
This relationship has transformed the group from mere separatists into a dangerous extension of the Iranian regime’s destabilizing proxy network across North Africa.
The threat posed by this axis cannot be overstated, as the theocratic regime in Tehran continues exploiting the Polisario as a strategic lever to project power far beyond its borders.
Security experts have documented how Iran’s revolutionary agenda has weaponized the separatist group, providing not only material support but also tactical training through Hezbollah operatives specifically to undermine Morocco’s territorial integrity and broader regional security architecture.
A document marked “highly confidential” from January 2012 detailed a secret alliance between Assad’s government and the Polisario Front. The correspondence revealed that Polisario dispatched militias to undergo military training with the Syrian Arab army under a program coordinated with Hezbollah in Beirut.
Security sources confirmed in December 2024 that approximately 30 Polisario militants were captured by Syrian opposition forces in Aleppo. These militants were reportedly abandoned by Assad regime forces during clashes.
Former Iraqi deputy Omar Abdul Sattar stated the militants were found in a rural Aleppo camp after being transported there by Algeria with Iranian support.
“They were under the supervision of Iranian military advisor Borhashmi, who was killed, and were receiving military training before their planned return to Tindouf to use these experiences in operations against Moroccan territories,” Abdul Sattar noted.
An April Washington Post report corroborated the deep collaboration between Iran-backed Hezbollah, and the Polisario Front, and Algeria—the patron, primary financier, and relentless political sponsor of the separatist movement.
The report cited sources confirming that Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy, trained Polisario Front separatists to advance its interests. As quoted, regional and European officials verified that Iran trained fighters from the “Algeria-based Polisario Front” who are now detained by Syria’s new security forces.
Polisario’s isolation reaches breaking point
Morocco severed ties with Iran in 2018, presenting substantial evidence of Tehran’s arming and training of Polisario separatists through Hezbollah. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita affirmed that Morocco provided detailed documentation of the Polisario-Hezbollah conspiracy.
“The file was carefully prepared, for weeks, on the basis of information collected and cross-checked over several months,” Bourita stated at the time, adding that the document summarizes “proven and precise facts: dates of visits by senior officers of Hezbollah in Algeria, dates and venues of meetings with Polisario officials, and a list of names of agents involved in these contacts.”
Following the Assad regime’s collapse in December, the Syrian National Salvation Front has urged Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to cut all ties with the Polisario Front and officially recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces. The opposition group specifically called on the Syrian president to open a consular office in Laayoune.
King Mohammed VI has reaffirmed Morocco’s support for the Syrian people in achieving their aspirations for freedom, peace, and stability.
Morocco stands ready to assist Syria “while they navigate this critical and decisive phase in their history in complete harmony with our principled stance supporting Syria’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty,” the monarch declared in a royal message in February.
The closure of the Polisario office in Syria marks a resounding defeat for the separatist group—dismantling one of its last propaganda footholds in the region and further isolating its collapsing agenda on the international stage. About 113 countries now back Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the most credible political solution to end the dispute.
