Syria Claims Iran Proxy Hezbollah Hatched ‘Assassination Plot’ to Kill Its Leaders

The Interior Ministry of Syria revealed on Tuesday nearly a dozen arrests linked to an alleged assassination plot by the Iranian proxy terrorist organization Hezbollah targeting its senior leaders.

The Syrian government, led by al-Qaeda alum President Ahmed al-Sharaa, is composed of the remnants of the jihadist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which for years waged war against the deposed dictatorship of Bashar Assad and its core allies, Iran and Hezbollah. Sharaa has attempted to find a diplomatic path for his regime’s relationship with Assad’s other major backer, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, but has primarily focused on improving relations with the United States, Europe, and especially fellow Arab states. Conversely, he has expanded targeting of alleged Hezbollah cells in the country and has been accused of engaging in persecution of minority groups associated with the former regime, such as Alawite Muslims and Christians.

This situation has placed Syria in a unique situation in the context of Operation Epic Fury, the American military campaign to eliminate Iranian leadership and dismantle its terrorist capabilities. While the Sharaa government rose from the remnants of Sunni terrorist organizations, Iran is the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism, funding not only fellow Shiite jihadist groups such as Hezbollah but Sunni jihadists such as those of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Syria’s government has avoided direct involvement in the conflict on either side — becoming one of the few Middle Eastern countries Iran has not bombed since February — but reportedly used its leverage to help expand land shipments of oil amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis and escalated law enforcement activity against alleged Hezbollah members.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) revealed its latest such activity on Tuesday. Law enforcement officials reportedly arrested at least 11 people in five state-level jurisdictions — the governorates of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Tartus, and Latakia — in association with what they believed to be a plot to kill Syria’s top government officials. The agency claimed that the Syrian Interior Ministry had traced the terror cell back to training areas in Lebanon, which is currently embroiled in its own war with Israel. The Israeli military invaded and seized a significant piece of territory in southern Lebanon beginning in March, including large swathes of Christian communities, arguing that Hezbollah benefits from expansive terrorist infrastructure there.

“Preliminary investigations indicated the cell was preparing to carry out coordinated attacks, including assassinations targeting high-ranking government figures,” SANA reported. The outlet did not indicate if Sharaa was personally targeted, nor did it identify any potential senior leaders under threat.

The Emirati newspaper The National reported that Hezbollah issued a statement in response to the accusations, denying that it was plotting any attacks against the Syrian government and insisting it does not even have a presence in the country.

“Hezbollah has never been a party that works to destabilise the security of any country or target the stability of its people,” the statement claimed, contrary to the long and storied history of Hezbollah involvement in terrorist destabilization around the world.

The alleged plot revealed this week is the latest in a series of claims by the Sharaa regime to have thwarted Hezbollah terrorism. On April 19, Syrian officials announced that they had intercepted a truck, allegedly belonging to Hezbollah, carrying missile launches. Damascus accused Hezbollah of attempting to bomb Israel from Syrian territory, potentially resulting in and Israeli response that would end Syria’s delicate status of being at peace while surrounded by warring countries. That attempted attack, according to Syrian law enforcement, was a collaborative effort between Hezbollah and individuals associated with the former Assad regime.

Sharaa regime officials claimed in reports at the time that there had been “several attempts to destabilize the country and undermine public security” by “remnants of the former regime and unscrupulous individuals linked to Hezbollah.”

On Sunday, the outlet Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the Syrian Interior Ministry was investigating potential ties to Hezbollah and Iran in the assassination of a Sharaa-friendly Shiite cleric in the country, Farhan al-Mansour. Al-Mansour had met with Sharaa shortly before his death and reportedly opposed Iranian intervention in the country. Unnamed sources in Syria told the publication that the government considered Iran and its proxy terrorist groups potential suspects in the killing; Iran condemned the killing and blamed the United States and Israel for it. 

The Syrian government is avoiding any active role in the conflict between America and Iran but also seeking domestic advantages, particularly in the oil industry, the Associated Press observed on Friday. The news service noted that Syria had been allowing Iraqi oil shipments to pass through its territory en route to Europe, which allows Iraq to avoid the Iranian blockade of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

A member of the Syrian government, Foreign Ministry official Obayda Ghadban, told the Associated Press that Syria considers both sides of the Israel-Iran conflict to be “enemies.” While describing Israel negatively, the comment indicated that Damascus has about the same view of Israel as it does of Iran — something unthinkable during the Assad era.

“The parties participating in it are strategic enemies of Syria, whether we talk about Iran and its affiliates, or if we talk about Israel and its aggressive expansionist policy in Syria,” he said. “Both parties have an interest in weakening Syria.”