Foreign Policy > Iran

Ignoring Iran’s Expanding Proxy Network

There are moments in American foreign policy when the warning signs are flashing so brightly that failing to act becomes its own form of negligence.

Julio Rivera | May 10, 2026

There are moments in American foreign policy when the warning signs are flashing so brightly that failing to act becomes its own form of negligence.

This is one of those moments.

Senator Ted Cruz and his fellow sponsors of S. 4063 are not engaging in political theater. They are responding to a gathering national security threat that too many in Washington have either underestimated or deliberately ignored for years: the growing cooperation between the Polisario Front and Iranian-backed terrorist networks operating across North Africa and beyond.

The Senate should move quickly to advance this legislation.

Not because it is politically convenient. Not because it fits neatly into the latest partisan narrative. But because the world has changed, and America’s enemies have changed with it.

Iran no longer limits itself to the Middle East. The regime has spent years building a sprawling web of proxy groups, covert relationships, financial pipelines, and ideological partnerships stretching far beyond Iran’s borders. Intelligence analysts and regional experts have repeatedly warned that Iranian influence is expanding into Africa through militant networks and aligned organizations willing to destabilize governments, threaten allies, and create new operating environments for extremist activity.

That is precisely why S. 4063 matters.

The bill, formally titled the........

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