Iraq Investigates Foiled Attempt to Smuggle Missiles Drones into Syria

Iraq's Joint Operations Command announced on Thursday that it had formed an investigative committee to examine the circumstances surrounding the foiled attempt to smuggle a shipment of weapons and missiles across the Iraqi border into Syria.

Sources familiar with the matter said the Iraqi government intends to hold officials at a border crossing with Syria accountable if they are found to have facilitated the shipment's passage into Syria.

The developments come amid growing scrutiny of cross-border overland freight traffic between the two countries, including routes used to transport goods and fuel, as well as heightened monitoring of weapons supply routes to Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The Joint Operations Command said the committee was formed under an urgent directive from armed forces commander-in-chief Ali al-Zaidi and included security agencies and specialists to investigate the operation.

Baghdad would coordinate with Damascus to establish what happened and hold accountable any party found to have been negligent, it said.

The measures were aimed at strengthening security along the shared border and preventing Iraqi territory from being used for activities that threaten national security or regional stability, the statement added.

The Iraqi announcement came hours after Syrian authorities said they had intercepted a shipment of weapons and missiles at the Syrian-Iraqi border.

The cargo was hidden inside an oil tanker and, according to the Syrian account, was intended for Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Syria’s state news agency SANA quoted an Interior Ministry source as saying specialized units had seized what it described as a shipment of advanced weapons entering Syrian territory.

The source said the cargo appeared to be bound for the Lebanese group.

Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports said an inspection at the al-Tanf border crossing uncovered large quantities of missiles, weapons, and drones inside an oil tanker heading to Banias.

Weapons hidden in an oil tanker

Iraqi security sources said the tanker left Iraq about nine days earlier after being officially registered as carrying fuel.

It completed customs procedures and was sealed before crossing the border, they said.

The tanker was moving as part of Iraqi fuel traffic to Syria, including shipments linked to supplying the Banias refinery with crude oil or petroleum products under commercial arrangements between the two countries.

The sources said fuel tankers could be harder to inspect than ordinary cargo, particularly when authorities relied on conventional screening methods.

The investigation would determine how the shipment passed through Iraqi checkpoints, including the al-Waleed border crossing, before it was seized at al-Tanf on the Syrian side, they said.

An Iraqi government source said the authorities were considering action against officials at al-Waleed if investigators found evidence of collusion or negligence.

Media reports citing sources said Syrian authorities did not inform Iraq of the seizure until after they had completed their investigation.

The reports said the detained driver had given statements indicating that employees at al-Waleed helped shipments pass through to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Sensitive frontier

The Iraqi-Syrian border is one of the region’s most sensitive security zones.

Stretching more than 600 km, it cuts through vast desert areas that have long complicated efforts to monitor the movement of people and goods.

Armed groups and smuggling networks have used the area in recent years to move fighters, weapons and prohibited materials, particularly during the war against ISIS, which controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017.

Although Baghdad and Damascus have moved to strengthen border cooperation, smuggling remains a complex security challenge because of the terrain and the number of armed groups operating near the crossings.

The seizure comes as Iraq seeks to balance stronger economic ties with Syria with its security and diplomatic commitments to the United States and other Western countries that have imposed sanctions on networks linked to armed groups in the region.

The disclosure also coincided with Iraqi financial institutions beginning to enforce a new package of U.S. sanctions targeting financing and logistical support networks linked to Hezbollah.

The measures included asset freezes and restrictions on several individuals and companies.

Hezbollah has not commented on the Syrian allegations.

Iraqi authorities have yet to release final findings or identify those behind the attempted shipment.

The case comes amid continued international pressure on supply routes used by Iran-aligned armed groups, including overland corridors running from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.

Iraqi and Syrian investigations are continuing into how the tanker crossed the border, who organized the shipment and how the fuel route to the Banias refinery was used.

Banias is economically important to both countries. It is home to one of Syria’s main oil refineries and provides access to the Mediterranean.

Iraq has recently sought to expand options for moving oil and petroleum products through Syria as part of efforts to diversify transport routes and reduce reliance on a single export corridor.

Reuters previously reported that Baghdad was seeking to increase oil shipments to Banias by road through Syria under existing agreements between the two countries.

Iraqi officials say the routes could bring economic gains, but border security and logistical concerns may require tighter controls on freight traffic.

aawsat.com