By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-03-15

Iran-aligned militias in Syria are destroying the already reeling local economy with goods smuggled into the country from Iran across the Iraq-Syria border, economic and legal analysts say.

Smuggling operations are taking place in plain sight at crossings controlled by militias affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Syrian economist and Damascus University lecturer Mahmoud Mustafa.

These militias are bringing in all kinds of goods from Iran and Iraq, flooding Syrian markets while avoiding inspections and taxes, he told Al-Fassel.

"These operations have countless negative effects, and in short, they are destroying what remains of the Syrian economy," he said.

"Firstly, the entry of goods through the crossings from Iraq without going through the appropriate procedures deprives the Syrian treasury of tax and customs funds," Mustafa said.

"Secondly, these operations bring in goods that do not meet specifications, may be expired and of course have countless [negative] health effects."

Forcing merchants to sell illegally imported products puts Syrian industrial and agricultural operations out of business and reduces or even eliminates income for families in areas adjacent to the border, he added.

Negative impact

The IRGC has long sought to open "corridors to transport Iranian goods to Iraq and Syria and flood the markets with them," according to Iranian affairs expert Sheyar Turko, who studies IRGC-affiliated militias.

Trucks loaded with goods that Syrians need for daily life enter the country without normal entry procedures, he told Al-Fassel.

Syrian traders loyal to Iran-affiliated militias impose these goods on local merchants at exaggerated prices, and local residents have no other option but to buy them to secure their daily needs, Turko said.

Syria is unable to produce these goods domestically due to a lack of manufacturing and factories, he added.

The militias and regime-affiliated security forces have set up checkpoints in most areas under their control -- not to enforce security but to collect "taxes" on Syrian goods of all kinds, especially agricultural products, he said.

This money does not go to the government, however, but rather into the pockets of senior officers and officials, he said.

The Syrian regime bears full responsibility for the smuggling operations, for flooding of the markets with Iranian goods and the resulting destruction of the Syrian economy, said Syrian lawyer Bashir al-Bassam.

"Its officials are present at the border crossings ... but they do not take any action whatsoever to stop these operations," he told Al-Fassel.

"On the contrary, they are openly facilitating their passage."