Syria takes aim at the militias backed by Iran

Border surveillance

Syrian authorities are conducting round-the-clock operations to intercept drug shipments and dismantle trafficking networks, with new seizures and arrests almost every week. According to Syria's Anti-Narcotics Directorate, 157 security operations were carried out against drug trafficking and distribution networks in October 2026, resulting in 30 active networks being dismantled. Authorities seized 4.3 million Captagon pills, 582kg of hashish, 7kg of crystal meth, and 28,000 tablets.

Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its networks inside Syria, recruiting both former operatives and new members. It hopes to establish new, less conventional smuggling networks with no apparent organisational links to Hezbollah, since its established networks are now vulnerable to surveillance and prosecution. It seeks operatives capable of carrying out bombings, assassinations, and acts of sabotage inside Syria, as well as recruits to launch operations against neighbouring countries from Syrian territory.

Among those reinforcing Hezbollah's ranks in Lebanon are Syrians who could be prosecuted at home for their record of abuse during the Assad era. Some are later sent back into Syria after training to carry out operations on Hezbollah's behalf. According to the Interior Ministry's statement earlier this month, members of the arrested cell had received training at camps in Lebanon.

Transit route

Stability in Syria would deprive Iran and Hezbollah of their most important strategic corridor in the Middle East. With Syria returning to the Arab fold and strengthening its relations with the Gulf states, Hezbollah would find itself increasingly confined to Lebanon, deprived of the transit routes needed for the supply of Iranian and Iraqi weapons, funds, and narcotics.

In response, Hezbollah has targeted cities, religious institutions, and prominent religious figures to inflame sectarian tensions. In April, for example, Syrian authorities announced the arrest of a cell that was allegedly planning an attack in Damascus "by planting an explosive device outside the home of a religious figure near the Mariamite Cathedral in the Bab Touma district".

Iran has quietly warned Syria's government that if it intervenes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Tehran would respond by targeting Syrian cities and activating its cells to carry out attacks inside Syria. Al Majalla understands that the Syrian authorities have been monitoring hundreds of individuals suspected of belonging to militias, tracking their movements and infiltrating their cells, and that this has helped thwart planned attacks in Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Homs, southern Syria, and even Hasakah province, where those involved sought to exploit existing tensions.

In May, Syria's Interior Ministry announced simultaneous security operations in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Tartous, and Latakia that led to the dismantling of a Hezbollah cell whose members had received intensive specialist training in Lebanon. According to the ministry, one of those arrested was the Hezbollah official directly responsible for overseeing assassination operations. It is understood that the cell was preparing to kill senior Syrian government figures.

The bigger picture

Among the geopolitical factors influencing events is the transit of oil to export markets. Oil-producing Middle Eastern states including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have long used ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz from the Arabian Gulf to markets including Asia and Europe. However, as a result of the US-Israeli war against Iran that began on 28 February, the Iranians have effectively closed both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the latter acting as a gateway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which is now controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen.

Tehran increasingly thinks that Syria (which borders Iraq and has a Mediterranean coast) may emerge as an alternative transit corridor for Arab oil. Iran sees this as a threat that weakens its leverage. This may explain why Hezbollah and its affiliates have been targeting Syria's energy sector, including 22 attacks on Syrian oil pipelines in recent months. Others think Hezbollah's actions may relate more to Syrian authorities' successful interception of dozens of smuggling operations along the border, which has placed the group under mounting pressure.

Earlier this week, the Syrian government sent reinforcements to its border with Lebanon. In recent weeks, it has sent reinforcements to its border with Iraq to counter the threat posed by Iran-backed militias deployed along the frontier, partly in response to reports of Syrian involvement in Yemen. Al Majalla understands that the Syrian authorities are fully aware of Tehran's intentions, having received numerous warnings through Iraqi intermediaries that any intervention against Iran's proxies in Yemen or Lebanon would elicit a strong response, including attacks on Syria itself.

Pre-emptive measures

The reinforcements along Syria's borders with Iraq and Lebanon thus appear intended to forestall any operations by militias acting on Iran's behalf. The Syrian army has established around 50 permanent military outposts along the Syria-Iraq border over the past two weeks, together with several other temporary, mobile positions. They are designed to prevent infiltration and smuggling, either of weapons or personnel. Drones are also being used to monitor the stretches of territory between military positions.

In Deir ez-Zor and Homs, the Syrian army has appointed new commanders with experience in border protection and combating smuggling. Following Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's visit to Damascus in late October, Syrian soldiers and guards have increased contact with their Iraqi counterparts. An Iraqi source told Al Majalla that Iraq's border guards are now in daily contact with the Syrian side through a joint coordination centre. Brig. Gen. Hassan Abdul Ghani is understood to represent Syria on matters relating to border security.

Damascus wants to establish strong security ties with Iraq to prevent threats from armed groups supported by Iran, and to avoid having to act unilaterally along the border, which could undermine trust. Al-Zaidi seems willing to cooperate. He has made changes to the intelligence services and military along the border, and used legal measures against figures linked to Tehran who have obstructed his efforts to bring all weapons in Iraq under state control.

Moving into position

Some Iraqi militias, including Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, have been reinforcing their positions along the Syrian frontier. These groups oppose Baghdad's policies and continue to pursue their agendas at odds with the government. Al Majalla understands that Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah has transferred dozens of fighters, weapons, and rockets to various locations in Iraq's western Anbar province over recent weeks. Anbar is a tribal region from where Islamic State grew more than a decade ago. In March, a base in Anbar was bombed by the US, targeting Iraqi militias fighting for Iran.

The deployment of Kataib Hezbollah fighters and weapons to Anbar could suggest preparations for attacks, or the group may just be moving weapons out of the major Iraqi cities into more remote areas ahead of any deadline to surrender weapons to the state. Kataib Hezbollah's movements coincided with similar deployments by another group, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, whose commanders have sworn absolute loyalty to Iran's Supreme Leader, heightening Syrian concerns and prompting reinforcements from Damascus to the border region.

The Syrian government would ideally want to pursue a foreign policy that avoids confrontation and recognises that it cannot secure its borders through its own efforts alone. In Baghdad and al-Zaidi, it may have found a partner.