By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-08-24

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continues to transfer weapons to Syria from Iraq and distribute them in areas where Lebanese Hizbullah and other proxies of the Iranian regime have established a presence, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has observed an increase in arms smuggling into Deir Ezzor carried out by IRGC-aligned militias, it said August 4.

Since the beginning of the year, 30 shipments of weapons and military vehicles have been documented, it said. Four of these shipments were targeted as they crossed between Iraq and Syria.

"Iran-affiliated militias are continuing to transport weapons and missiles from Iraq to the areas in which they are deployed in Syria," Deir Ezzor media activist Jamil al-Abed told Al-Fassel.

Arms are delivered "to areas where Lebanese Hizbullah is deployed, in various areas of Deir Ezzor and Aleppo, in addition to many warehouses located in residential areas of Deir Ezzor city, al-Mayadeen and Albu Kamal," he said.

Civilians in these areas are being used as "human shields in the event that the location of these warehouses is exposed," he added.

Open smuggling of arms

Weapons and missiles are being brought into Syria openly via the official crossings that connect Iraq and Syria, especially al-Hari border crossing east of Albu Kamal, al-Abed said.

They continue to arrive through many illegal crossings as well, including al-Suwayyiah in the Albu Kamal hinterland, he added, often disguised as shipments of vegetables, fruit and other food.

"It is natural and expected that Iran would continue to flood the areas where its affiliates are deployed with missiles, weapons and ammunition" amid the current regional escalation, Iranian affairs researcher Sheyar Turko told Al-Fassel.

Hizbullah in particular "needs reinforcements and cannot supply its bases in Syria via Lebanon; therefore, supplying from Iraq is the best solution for it," he said.

"Most of the shipments contain medium- and long-range missiles," he said, which signals that the militias expect to use them on long-range targets, or at least give the appearance that they will do so in order to fuel regional tensions.

The massive arsenal of missiles that Hizbullah and other Iranian proxies are stockpiling poses "a real threat to the Middle East region and is a powder keg that could explode at any time," Turko warned.