By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-08-09

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders in Syria continue to pressure Syrian tribal leaders for permission to recruit their young men into allied local militias in various parts of the country, activists said.

This is happening in Deir Ezzor and al-Hasakeh provinces, the Middle Euphrates Valley and northwestern and southwestern Syria, they said.

But to date, the IRGC's efforts have been largely unsuccessful, they told Al-Fassel, with the small number of recruits making no significant improvement to the strength of the militias' fighting force.

"The IRGC's leadership in Syria is still pressuring the sons of local tribes to join the local militias," Deir Ezzor media activist Jamil al-Abed told Al-Fassel.

"Some Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah leaders have actually met with a number of tribal leaders who are loyal to the IRGC," he said.

But in their internal meetings, tribal leaders have stressed they will not get drawn into the Iranian plan, no matter the temptations and threats, he said.

They refuse to fall "into the trap of spreading the ideology of al-Wali al-Faqih (Guardian Jurist -- Iranian leader Ali Khamenei) and the social and demographic impact this has," he explained.

"Furthermore, the tribes in these areas do not want to go up against the forces of the international coalition, particularly the United States, which is what Iran seeks with the new recruitment campaign," he said.

Disreputable recruits

Al-Abed said the IRGC's new campaign has succeeded only in recruiting some wanted criminals, many smugglers and individuals wanted by the Syrian regime.

"It is agreed upon during the recruitment to grant the recruits security cards that prevent the regime from pursuing them," he said.

"And for the smugglers, it is an opportunity to continue their work, as they are used in drug and weapon smuggling operations," he noted.

Despite pervasive Iranian propaganda that hails the loyalty of Syrian tribe members to the IRGC, the reality is that such loyalty comes from only a few factions, Syrian activist Ayham al-Ali told Al-Fassel.

The IRGC's Syria leadership established the Karbalaiyoun Brigade, comprised of individuals from the region wanted on security and criminal charges, al-Ali said.

The militia is no more than 400 strong, he added, and its members are accused of involvement in criminal activity -- theft and smuggling -- and are effectively ostracized by the public and tribes of the region.