By Anas al-Bar | 2024-05-20

A cluster of shady Iran-linked armed groups encamped at the Iraq-Syria border are deeply engaged in various types of criminal activity, making a mockery of Iran's lofty claims to be "defending the region."

These groups have turned the area around the Iraqi border town of al-Qaim into a weapon and drug smuggling haven, local activists say.

More than 10 armed groups linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are deployed in the area, political analyst Tariq al-Shammari told Al-Fassel.

Smuggling operations are carried out in plain sight, and the groups mete out harsh punishments to those they perceive as interfering.

Iran-aligned militias have been storing "hundreds of tons" of explosives -- missiles and mines and other weapons -- in secret warehouses in and around al-Qaim, local sources say.

These weapons are later smuggled across the border to allied groups in Syria via illegal border crossings and roads controlled by the militias, a local resident said.

The crossings also are used to bring illicit drugs into Iraq from Syria.

Drugs are routinely concealed in shipments of fruit, electronics, toys or furniture, and drug money is used to fund the operations of these armed groups.

Iran-linked armed groups claim their reinforcements aim to support Iraqi security forces in securing the border areas against terrorist infiltration.

But local residents told Al-Fassel that their real aim is to protect and facilitate smuggling operations.

They said their businesses and daily lives are being disrupted by the militias, and that the smuggling of arms and drugs also puts their lives in danger.

Endangering civilians

Weapons are deliberately stored in residential areas so these groups "won't be targeted by international coalition warplanes," a local resident using just the name "Ahmed" told Al-Fassel in February.

"They are not concerned about our lives, of course."

"Iran-affiliated militias have been preventing large numbers of displaced families in the city of al-Qaim from returning to their homes," political researcher Abdul Qader al-Nayel told Al-Fassel.

The area has become a "depopulated zone," he said, adding that in recent weeks, the militias took over about 70 houses near the border, forcing out the occupants.

The militias have turned many previously abandoned private homes and buildings into secret lockups, detention centers and weapon depots, he said.

Public service institutions, such as the Karabila health center, have been transformed into warehouses for weapons that are smuggled to Iran's proxies in Syria, he said.