Leaked US Intelligence Files: Iran Smuggled Weapons Concealed in Earthquake Relief to Syria

The Washington Post reported Sunday that Iran and allied groups are smuggling weapons into Syria hidden in aid shipments sent in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake earlier this year.

The newspaper cited a classified US intelligence assessment shared on the online messaging platform Discord, where other sensitive US government documents have been circulating recently. Last month, a suspect accused of leaking the files was charged.

According to the report, many of the weapons — including small arms, ammunition and drones — were brought in from Iraq in convoys organized by Iran-backed militias along with the Quds Force, the unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps charged with foreign operations. .

The intelligence file indicated that Iran moved quickly to exploit the Feb. 7 earthquake that killed tens of thousands in Syria and neighboring Turkey, where a day later an unidentified Iraqi militia group allegedly “orchestrated the transfer of guns, ammunition and 30 [drones] hidden in aid convoys to support future attacks on US forces in Syria.”

Days later, she added, a Quds Force officer asked another Iraqi paramilitary force to hide its weapons “as part of legitimate earthquake aid.” Another Iranian officer was quoted as saying he had a list of “hundreds” of transport vehicles that have crossed into Syria from Iraq since the earthquake.

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The report stated that the “chief of staff” of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, apparently referring to Abdulaziz al-Muhammadawi – who is subject to US sanctions – is complicit in the smuggling. The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella organization of militias that enjoys support from Iran, denied that it or affiliated groups had exploited aid shipments to move weapons into Syria.

Citizens stand next to a building destroyed in the recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, February 27, 2023 (Omar Sanadiki/AP)

The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani did not comment on the record, but a senior official denied the allegations of smuggling contained in the American document, describing it as “fake,” arguing that there was no necessary pretext for shipping weapons to Syria.

“In fact, the borders are wide open; in fact, we are still suffering from illegal infiltration through the Syrian borders,” the Iraqi official said. “Which means that if these documents are correct, it is possible at any time. Why wait for an aid convoy as a justification? “

The newspaper said that an unnamed Israeli military official confirmed the Quds Force’s involvement, without giving further details.

The report also said aid shipments complicate Israel’s targeting of arms shipments to Iran’s proxies. But she predicted that Israeli forces would “very likely” continue to act to intercept them but would need “more rigorous intelligence confirmation before striking alleged aid shipments”.

The United States has about 900 troops in positions in northeastern Syria to maintain pressure on Islamic State remnants and support the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls most of northeastern Syria. It also maintains the al-Tanf barracks in southern Syria, which was targeted in Iranian drone strikes.

US soldiers patrol in the Rmeilan countryside in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasaka, near the border with Turkey, on April 13, 2023. (Delil Souleiman / AFP)

In March, a US military contractor was killed in Syria by a drone, prompting a US retaliatory attack on Iran-linked forces in the country.

The Washington Post report comes after Reuters reported similarly last month that Iran had transported weapons and military equipment to Syria on humanitarian aid flights in the aftermath of the recent earthquake.

Within days of the earthquake, the Saudi-owned Elaph news website quoted an Israeli military official as saying that if Iran was shipping weapons to its regional proxies under the guise of humanitarian aid to Syria after the major earthquake there, the Israeli military would not hesitate to strike.

Several airstrikes against purported Iranian arms shipments disguised as seemingly harmless products have been attributed to Israel in the recent past.

Illustrative: Workers unload aid from a plane sent by Iran, at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, early on February 8, 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. (AFP)

Israel is believed to have carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-held parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.

However, Israel has acknowledged that it is targeting the bases of groups allied with Iran, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel views Iran’s expansion across Syria as an ongoing threat to its national security, and has launched strikes across a wide range of targets in an effort to rein in Iranian forces in the region. The Jewish state regards Iran as its greatest enemy, citing its hostile rhetoric, support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and its suspected nuclear programme. Iran denies Western allegations that it is seeking to acquire a nuclear bomb.

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