Syria says seized Hezbollah-bound arms on Iraq border
Syrian authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle a shipment of advanced weapons and missiles through the Iraqi-Syrian border, the Syrian interior ministry has announced.
The ministry added that “investigations confirmed that the shipment was intended to pass through Syria to Hezbollah.”
Sources told Al-Arabiya television that the shipment contained "missiles, 150 booby-trapped drones, shells, and explosives" that were "skillfully hidden in oil tankers headed from Iraq to Syria's Banias oil refinery."
Syrian authorities are hostile to Hezbollah, which was an ally of former president Bashar al-Assad before he was ousted in 2024.
They have previously announced several other seizures of weapons they say were bound for the Iran-backed group, but Thursday's announcement is the first involving the border with Iraq.
It comes after U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of Syria intervening in Lebanon against Hezbollah.
Since an Islamist coalition took power in Syria in 2024, the authorities claim they have dismantled several Hezbollah-linked cells preparing attacks in Syria, but Hezbollah has repeatedly denied the accusation.
The group has been weakened by the war it has waged against Israel since March in support of Iran.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in intervening militarily in Lebanon despite Trump's suggestions.
16 July 2026, 18:53
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Sunni Islamists in Damascus who are allied and dependent on Turkey are seen by the Israeli enemy as more a threat to them than Iran and Hizbollah who say they have allowed weapons to go through the borders without any restrictions, which makes this announcement just a publicity stunt. Turkey wants to be the leader of the Sunnis of the world and will only succeed if they give IsraHell a good beating. As far as Lebanon I remember a time in the 1980’s when Hizbollah and Sunni Islamists (Tawheed) were allies until the Syrian regime and its secular Lebanese allies defeated them. I see an alliance again as Iran and Hezbollah are weakened by war (and the secular Syrian regime no longer exists) and Turkey and the Sunni Islamists rise.
16 July 2026, 20:17
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Shias and Sunnis who make up two thirds of the Lebanese population were generally always allies until the Syrian civil war which caused a schism. Lebanese Shia leaders who supported the overthrow of the Baathist Iraqi regime supported the Syrian Baathist regime in Syria against the Sunni opposition. The Syrian Baathist regime like the Iraqi Baathist regime no longer exists and the schism no longer exists. Both sides will benefit with an alliance as the American Empire collapses and America no longer needs middle Eastern oil.
16 July 2026, 22:54
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Erdogan won't live forever, and in the meantime he can change his mind any way he wants. I like your idea of pan-Islamism. If ironically, this is a force of secularism, here-and-now-ism, which is the rising force in the world in the internet-cellphone age: the information marketplace. Tyrants are a drag in all senses of the word. No one is that smart.
17 July 2026, 01:13
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I don’t like pan Islamism. I’m a secular leftist Arab Nationalist from a Christian background (similar to Ziad Ri7bani). America and its allies spent trillion of dollars to defeat the Arab Nationalist Left. The only political organizations with popular grass roots support are Islamists who have replaced them in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and in the following years the rest of the Arab world. I remember the days when the Lebanese Communist Party had more Shia members than any political organization. There is an old saying in America: “ Be careful what you wish for”.
17 July 2026, 03:49
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Markets rule. Empire just doesn't work. Israel for example could do a lot better if it worked at consensus, but the rule in Israel is "don't talk about it". I picture Aoun talking to Trump in Washington, each trying to outdo the other in not saying anything at all.
17 July 2026, 18:23
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Let me quote for emphasis what censoredarabamerican says above. "Sunni Islamists in Damascus who are allied and dependent on Turkey are seen by the Israeli enemy as more a threat to them than Iran and Hizbollah who say they have allowed weapons to go through the borders without any restrictions, which makes this announcement just a publicity stunt." You'd ask, "Stunt by who?"
18 July 2026, 04:48
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Iran and Hizbollah have said that they transport weapons freely across Syrian territory, thanks to Sunni Islamists who "have allowed", etc.? Or "the Israeli enemy" is the "they" who say Iran freely transports weapons across Syrian territory to Hizbollah? I guess in either case, Sunni Islamists in Syria are allowing weapons to reach Lebanon from Iran, says censoredarabamerican. I do find it hard to believe that this new "president" of Syria has abandoned zealotry, although he does a great impression of crawling and cringing, while retaining the official terrorist beard.
