Politics

Syria reinforces its borders to stop any Israel-Iran spillover

Smugglers and militias have been active along the country’s boundaries in recent days, which could attract unwanted conflict. With resources stretched, Damascus is keen to contain things.

Syria reinforces its borders to stop any Israel-Iran spillover

Subhi Franjieh

last update on 20 Jun 2025

The Syrian government is seeking to avoid becoming a theatre for conflict between Israel and Iran, as the pair continued trading blows this week. Israel’s offensive, launched on 13 June, has targeted Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists, as well as military and scientific establishments, in particular those associated with Tehran’s nuclear programme.

In recent years, Iran has used Syria and Iraq to target US and Israeli assets, with US bases in both countries. Iran was an ally of Syria’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, whose regime was overthrown in December 2024. Around the same time, a new group emerged in Syria that claimed to be against both Israel and the new Syrian government, called the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria—Uli al-Baas.

In recent days, the group said: “The enemy that assassinated leaders in Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut, and now Tehran, is the same enemy waging both soft and hard war against the peoples of the entire (Islamic) nation. It is our collective duty to confront this enemy with unity, escalation of the front, and intensification of actions.”

It claimed responsibility for a missile attack launched from southern Syria towards Israel at the beginning of the month. On 12 June, a day before Israel’s attack, it warned of more to come, describing the missiles as “a warning bell and a preliminary challenge,” adding: “The enemy will see what will cause it to ache and retreat... Revenge is coming, and the legitimate resistance will continue its strikes until the last grain of our usurped land is liberated.”

The Islamic Resistance Front in Syria—Uli al-Baas claimed responsibility for a missile attack from southern Syria towards Israel

Taking precautions

Thus far, neither Uli al-Baas nor any other faction has escalated hostilities from Syrian territory. Damascus has implemented precautions to preserve calm and shield Syria from getting caught in the crossfire. So far, only falling debris like fragments of intercepted Iranian missiles have fallen on Syrian soil.

Raed al-Saleh, Syria's Minister of Emergency and Disaster Affairs, urged citizens to prioritise their safety. Speaking to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), he urged Syrians "not to gather or climb onto rooftops to observe what is happening," while warning them not to touch any falling debris. "Leave their handling to engineering units or war remnants removal teams," he added.

The Syrian government has deployed reinforcements to southern Syria since fighting broke out, while maintaining a heightened state of alert along its borders with both Iraq and Lebanon, in an effort to thwart any smuggling attempts that could drag Syria into the conflict. Damascus is facing its own security challenges, as it battles to curb arms proliferation.

The Interior Ministry said it dispatched "security reinforcements to the Masakin Jalin area in western rural Daraa (after) an armed ambush targeting a security patrol investigating reports of an outlaw group setting up a checkpoint". A day later, the Internal Security Directorate confiscated a cache of weapons in the south.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP — A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama following its capture.

Active cells

Although Iranian influence in Syria has largely diminished since al-Assad fled, residual elements remain active. These actors, which include so-called sleeper cells, continue to engage in arms and drug trafficking and seek to destabilise security. In response, the Syrian government has launched a series of targeted operations in Deir ez-Zor and along its borders with Iraq and Lebanon in recent days, arresting those thought to be operating under Iranian directives.

Local sources told Al Majalla that two air strikes targeted areas near the Syrian border on the Iraqi side, while coalition aircraft patrol the Syria-Iraq border region. These appear aimed at preventing infiltration or smuggling from Iraq into Syria. A Syrian army unit was attacked by militias operating along the border last week, prompting an ensuing gunfight in which one Syrian soldier was injured.

Damascus is now expected to further reinforce the Syria-Iraq border to secure a frontier that remains a persistent security vulnerability, with Iran-backed militias having dug numerous tunnel networks that the Syrian state is now working to dismantle. The tunnels are used to smuggle weapons, personnel, and narcotics.

A prolonged war between Iran and Israel could further complicate Syria's already volatile and unstable landscape if Iran's proxies mobilise across Syrian territory. This would force the Syrian government to exhaust its limited resources securing its borders to curb the spillover of hostilities. This risks creating security vacuums that could be exploited by other actors, including the Islamic State (IS).

Two air strikes targeted areas near the Syrian border on the Iraqi side, while coalition aircraft patrolled the Syria-Iraq border region

The Syrian state is acutely aware of the evolving operational strategy of IS, which has been targeting military and security personnel. IS claimed responsibility late last month for an attack on a Syrian military unit in Tulul al-Safa. Speaking to Alikhbariyah Syria earlier this month, Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab warned that IS had transitioned "from aimless acts of destruction to calculated operations with strategic objectives".

Deployment priorities

If the Syrian government diverts resources to address the repercussions of the Iran-Israel conflict and prevent its spread into Syrian territory, IS could take advantage to reposition its forces and reinforce its arsenal, with large quantities of weapons still circulating beyond state control. Other factions, including remnants of the former regime that have continued to stockpile weapons, are also poised to pounce in the event of a security vacuum. Many are funded by smuggling.

Israel destroyed the Syrian state's military infrastructure in the hours and days after the Assad regime collapsed, which prompted the large-scale theft of weapons from military facilities and regime depots, as the army collapsed and soldiers abandoned their posts. Syria's nascent army is still battling to control territory and weapons. A spillover of war from the Israel-Iran conflict would be painful. Containing it has just been added to an increasing list of urgent tasks.

+ / -