Hezbollah Chief Says Assad’s Fall Severed Key Supply Line From Iran

Wall Street Journal-Dec15th2024

Hezbollah lost its most important supply route from Iran through Syria, Naim Qassem said, the first time the chief of the Lebanese militia has publicly acknowledged how the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has hurt the group’s ability to rearm after a punishing Israeli campaign.

Assad’s Syria was the most important state ally for Iran’s alliance of regional militias and political entities across the Middle East, which includes Hezbollah. Syria also was the key geographical link allowing the flow of weapons and other materiel to move from Iran to Lebanon, where Hezbollah projected Iran’s front against their common archenemy, Israel.

Assad’s ousting at the hands of rebels imperiled Syria’s ties to Tehran and raised questions over the country’s future relations with Hezbollah, which battled the rebels on Assad’s behalf.

Iranian smuggling

routes

turkey

Aleppo

syria

Homs

iran

lebanon

Baghdad

Damascus

West

Bank

iraq

Amman

Basra

Jerusalem

israel

100 miles

saudi arabia

jordan

Sources: Institute for National Security Studies, Le Beck International, American Security Project, staff reports
Carl Churchill/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Yes, Hezbollah lost in this phase its military supply line through Syria, but this loss is merely a detail in the overall of the resistance,” Naim said in his first public comments since Assad was toppled.

“The supply line might come back normally with the new regime, and we can always look for other ways, the resistance is flexible and can adapt,” he added.

Hezbollah is Iran’s most powerful militia ally but has been badly battered by more than a year of fighting with Israel, which crescendoed over the fall before a cease-fire deal was signed in late November. Israel has extensively struck smuggling-related infrastructure in Lebanon and Syria, including border crossings, smuggling convoys and weapons-production facilities, in a bid to choke off supplies.

But Assad’s fall has now threatened Iran’s foothold in Syria, especially after Hezbollah and Iranian military personnel fled the country as it became clear Assad would lose his grip on power.

Drivers in Nabatieh, Lebanon, passed scenes of destruction during the first days of the cease-fire with Israel. Photo: Emanuele Satolli for WSJ

The chaos in the aftermath of the rebels’ stunning victory also opened a window for Israel to destroy swaths of the Syrian army’s strategic weapons, including Scud and cruise missiles and chemical-weapons capabilities in more than 350 airstrikes across the country, Israel’s military has said. The strikes have lessened in pace from an initial burst after Assad fell, but continued overnight into Sunday, Israel’s Army Radio said.

Israel also has pushed into the buffer zone that separated Israel and Syria after their 1973 war, saying it moved in to protect its borders and citizens against potential threats from rebel groups that are vying for control and may be hostile to Israel.

“We aren’t intervening in what is happening in Syria. We have no intention of managing Syria,” the Israeli military’s top general, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said of Israel’s ground activity on Saturday evening. “We are unequivocally intervening in what determines the security of Israeli citizens here.”

Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which fled Syria, warned against Israel’s increased presence in Syria, saying that Israel “will pay a heavy price.”

Though Islamist rebel factions who led Assad’s ouster have sought to project moderation, Israel is still wary of the groups’ long-term intentions.

“The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared, and the latest developments in Syria are increasing the intensity of the threat—despite the moderate appearance rebel leaders are pretending to portray,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday, pressing Israel to increase its military spending.

Adam Chamseddine, Benoit Faucon and Aresu Eqbali contributed to this article.