DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities at the country's border with Iraq thwarted an attempt to smuggle weapons believed to have been headed to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, state media said Thursday.
A truck was seized with advanced weapons and rockets, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency quoted an unnamed Interior Ministry official as saying. The official said that a preliminary investigation concluded that its intended
destination was Hezbollah in Lebanon, which since early March has been at war with Israel.
The new leadership in Syria, which toppled former President Bashar Assad in 2024, has cracked down on smuggling of weapons and illicit drugs along its borders, especially with Iraq and Lebanon, which for decades have served as strategic routes for supplying Hezbollah and other groups backed by Iran.
Hezbollah called the Syrian government's accusation “baseless,” as they have done several times in the past. Hezbollah for years was present in Syria backing Assad during the 13-year conflict, but the group maintains it no longer operates there.
“These claims and accusations are nothing more than fabricated narratives with no foundation in reality,” the group's media relations office said.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Joint Operations command said that it formed a committee to investigate the smuggling and will coordinate with its counterparts in Damascus. It did not offer other details.
U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that Syria take military action against Hezbollah, while Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has been trying to prevent his country from being sucked into a wider regional conflict.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi earlier this week traveled to Washington to meet with Trump, who has been pushing Baghdad to disarm Tehran-backed militias.
