Israeli airstrikes hit Iran's alleged Syria-Lebanon arms route
The Israeli military launched its latest airstrike on the Syria-Lebanon border on Monday targeting what it described as Iranian smuggling routes used by Hezbollah.
The Israeli military launched its latest airstrike on the Syria-Lebanon border on Monday targeting what it described as Iranian smuggling routes used by Hezbollah.
The Israeli military posted to X that a series of airstrikes over an unspecified time period attacked the route Iran has been using to supply Hezbollah’s elite unit 4400 with weapons with the oversight of Syria's Military Security.
The route is allegedly used for storing weapons in Syrian military warehouses prior to their transfer to Lebanon.
The Syrian Military Security Unit plays a key role in supplying weapons to Iran's proxies in the region, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, adding that the strikes come as part of efforts against Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which is the body responsible for transporting weapons from Iran and other regional allies to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It was headed by Muhammad Ja’far Qasir, who was wanted by the US State Department before Israel assassinated him on October 1, 2024.
“The IDF remains committed to countering Iran’s efforts to arm its terrorist proxies across the region,” the tweet read.
They posted an animated video to the tweet that shows the alleged Iranian smuggling route that starts in Iran, makes its way into Iraq and through Syria into Lebanon.
The Israeli military said in its statement that the Iranian smuggling routes are not a new target but part of a long-term effort to disrupt the flow of weapons to Iran's armed allies which have been confronting the Jewish state for over a year.
Syria’s state news agency SANA said the Israeli strikes on Monday damaged bridges in the al-Qusayr area.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, two people were killed and five injured in that attack.
The remarks were among the most critical yet by a current or former top official on Iran's intelligence capabilities vis-a-vis a top national security dossier.
“In the assassinations of the four nuclear scientists ... we were unable to identify those who committed the crimes," Mahmoud Alavi was quoted as saying by Iranian media outlets. "Nor were we able to thoroughly study the methods of their assassinations."
He was referring to slain nuclear scientists Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan.
"However, the case of (Mohsen) Fakhrizadeh was different. Everyone was identified. Nevertheless, we faced a vigilant enemy who, typically, would flee just half an hour before we could reach them,” added Alavi, a minister during Hassan Rouhani’s presidency.
Between 2010 and 2020, the five Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated by various means but none of the killers have been apprehended.
Ali-Mohammadi was killed by a remote-control bomb attached to a motorcycle in Tehran on January 2010.
Shahriari and Ahmadi Roshan died when explosives attached to their vehicles detonated in attacks in 2010 and 2012. Rezaeinejad was shot and killed by motorcycle gunmen in Tehran in the summer of 2011.
Fakhrizadeh, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander regarded as the chief of Iran's nuclear program, was shot dead by a remote-control machine gun in Damavand near Tehran in 2020.
His comments cast doubt on the government’s earlier claims of cracking down on foreign espionage.
In 2012, the Islamic Republic executed Majid Jamali Fashi, accusing him of assassinating Alimohammadi. The conviction was based on video-taped confessions aired in a state-produced documentary called The Terror Club.
The program featured 13 individuals allegedly trained in Israel for espionage and sabotage, many of whom later recanted their confessions.
Maziar Ebrahimi, another person featured in film, described later how he was tortured into falsely confessing a leadership role in the team that killed Shahriari.
Released years later, Ebrahimi has since publicly denounced the confessions, accusing Iranian authorities of fabricating the charges. Now residing in Germany, he described systemic flaws in Iran’s judicial and intelligence processes during an interview with BBC Persian in 2019.
A spokesperson for Rouhani’s government Ali Rabiei distanced the administration from Ebrahimi’s case, saying it did not occur during their administration.
Rabiei conceded that some confessions were unreliable and improperly assessed, pointing to non-specialists’ involvement in critical counterintelligence investigations.
Unresolved case of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s leading nuclear scientist and a pivotal figure in its nuclear program, was assassinated on November 27, 2020, near Absard east of Tehran. Alavi said intelligence services identified the suspects’ movements but they repeatedly evaded capture.
“We tracked them to various cities—Arak, Hamedan, Sanandaj, and finally Saqqez—but ultimately lost them as they left the country,” he said.
International media reports described the assassination as an operation involving a remote-controlled weapon smuggled into Iran. The weapon was designed in Israel and assembled inside Iran and was part of an eight-month operation orchestrated by a 20-member team of Israeli and Iranian nationals, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
Espionage accusations
Iranian authorities have since announced arrests and indictments, but inconsistencies persist. Initial claims suggested five to six armed individuals were involved, while later reports cited indictments against 14 suspects.
Human rights organizations have identified several Kurdish detainees accused of assisting the operation and raised questions about the transparency and fairness of the investigations.
Despite sporadic arrests and indictments, Iran’s intelligence services have struggled to conclusively address these high-profile assassinations.
Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir recently announced the identification of eight individuals accused of spying for Israel, with three sentenced to death.
However, rights groups like Kurdistan Human Rights Network argue that these suspects were denied due process, including access to independent legal counsel during critical investigative stages.
The recurring failures to secure accountability may reflect broader systemic shortcomings in Iran’s security apparatus.
While officials have attributed the assassinations to Israeli operatives, some critics have pointed to internal weaknesses including flawed intelligence practices and politicized judicial procedures as contributing factors.
The Deterrence Act is a response to Iran’s plot to kill President elect-Donald Trump and other Iran-led murder-for-hire attempts which US investigators have described in lengthy criminal complaints in recent months.
The bill increases criminal penalties for those who commit or attempt certain crimes on behalf of foreign adversaries, which already come with increased prison sentences.
“Foreign adversaries like Iran are working with criminal organizations in the United States to kill people on American soil,” co-sponsor Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said in a statement.
Hassan added she would work with colleagues to pass this legislation as quickly as possible to send a message to Iran's rulers.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed an Iranian-led plot to assassinate Donald Trump, charging a man they said had been tasked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to kill the Republican candidate on the campaign trail.
Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national was identified by the FBI as an Iranian government asset who moved to America as a young child but was deported after being imprisoned on robbery charges. He allegedly hired individuals he met while in prison for the alleged plots, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.
Two other men were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to surveil and kill prominent Iranian- American human rights activist and journalist Masih Alinejad. According to US law enforcement, Alinejad has been the victim of several Iranian murder-for-hire plots thwarted by the FBI on US soil.
Another co-sponsor, Iowa Republican Joni Ernst, said Iran has enjoyed years of “appeasement.”
“Now that the regime has become so emboldened that it even attempted to assassinate President Trump, Senator Hassan and I are taking action to ensure any bad actor thinks twice before working with our adversaries or messing with any of our citizens,” Ernst said in a statement.
Florida Democrat Representative Moskowitz, another co-sponsor who is part of a bipartisan task force investigating the assassination attempts against Donald Trump, said he is deeply disturbed by Iran's reported active attempts at targeting Americans on US soil.
“We need to send a message that any person who works with a foreign government, especially a state sponsor of terrorism like Iran, will face severe consequences for harming Americans,” he said in a statement.
"We are close to an agreement, it could happen within days, some corners remain to be closed,” Mike Herzog, Israel's ambassador to the US, told Army Radio on Monday.
The United States believes the two sides have reached a ceasefire agreement, Axios reported on Monday citing a senior U.S. official.
On Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held closed talks on the matter which would have to be approved by the security cabinet.
The US Undersecretary of Defense for Middle East Affairs, Dan Shapiro, will arrive in Israel on Monday and meet with Defense Minister Israel Katz and other Israeli officials.
A key agenda item will be addressing Israeli concerns its so-called freedom of action and ensuring immediate cooperation on the matter, with Israel insisting on keeping the option for self-defense firmly open.
A senior Israeli negotiator, working closely on the Gaza file, told Iran International: “Each side wants a ceasefire in Lebanon.”
He said that there is no desire to wait until the Trump administration begins in January, as the country is being battered by war, impacting economically and psychologically, while 101 Israeli hostages remain held by Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and the war rolls on there.
“Bibi fears that the Biden administration may impose sanctions, enforce an arms embargo or even seek retribution against him,” the source said.
“At the same time, he rightly believes that this is a moment when Hezbollah and Iran are at their weakest, Israel not gaining any more by inflicting havoc on Lebanon.”
In September, coordinated attacks over two days saw thousands of Hezbollah operatives taken out of action when pagers and walkie-talkies exploded simultaneously.
Soon after, swathes of the group’s leadership, including long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah, were killed in a wave of targeted strikes, which continue today.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close political ally of Hezbollah, last week said there was progress in the talks, but there were still “technical details” to resolve.
The US-drafted proposal entails an initial 60-day suspension of hostilities during which Hezbollah fighters would move north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from the Israeli border.
However, it would require the Lebanese army to enforce the deal, deploying thousands of troops, which has historically been impossible to impose as Hezbollah continues to defy the army which is essentially weaker than Iran’s largest ally in the region.
Former General Khaled Hmadeh told Iran International that on the ground, the prospects of a ceasefire look more bleak.
"The efforts initiated by Amos Hochstein's recent visits to Beirut and Tel Aviv have yielded little productive outcome, highlighted by the immediate resumption of Israeli reconnaissance flights over Beirut following his departure. The situation further deteriorated with a surge in military operations characterized by escalating violence and destruction after his visit to Tel Aviv," he told Iran International.
He said problems between the US and Iran remain key barriers. "Clear terms that could address the critical issues between Israel and Lebanon remain elusive. Instead, the situation seems to be heading toward further escalation. A significant factor in this deepening rift is Iran's resistance to the changes the United States is implementing in the region, particularly concerning Iranian influence and the status of Iranian-backed armed militias," he added.
Tehran, in turn, he said appears to be "exploiting and capitalizing on its dominance over Hezbollah, and through it, Lebanese political decision-making in the face of US pressure over its regional role and nuclear ambitions".
He said that while Lebanon bears the brunt of the conflict, suffering damage to its political stability, security, and national economy, the effectiveness of the Lebanese government is also under scrutiny, "particularly concerning Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's navigation of Tehran's influence".
International pressure on Tehran will be key in what not only comes next, but the key to any kind of lasting peace.
"The responsibility to pressure Tehran into dismantling Hezbollah's military capabilities should be recognized as an international and American obligation that transcends purely Lebanese concerns," he added. "Without consistent external support aimed at solidifying the Lebanese Army's role and addressing Hezbollah's military presence, the prospects for stability in the region will remain precarious at best."
A soldier in the elite Golani unit not authorized to speak to media, told Iran International: "I hope we finish them. Lebanon agrees, they also hate Hezbollah."
In spite of being seriously wounded in Lebanon, he longs to go back to the front lines, and "finish the job". "We can't allow them to get strong enough to raise their heads again," he said.
Lior Akerman, a senior fellow and Head of National Resilience Desk in the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Reichman University, said that in the current reality, an agreement with Hezbollah has a wider importance.
It could allow the "return of sanity to the State of Israel", including the cessation of fighting in Gaza, the return of the 63,000 displaced Israeli residents to their homes in the north, the return of the kidnapped in Gaza, and the rebuilding of the state.
The former deputy head of division and a former chief of staff in the Shin Bet told Iran International: "In the distant future, there is no doubt that an all-out war will be required to destroy Hezbollah, but in the meantime, we can be content with keeping them away from the border and giving the Israeli army the opportunity to thwart any security activity against us in the territories of southern Lebanon."
Israel's right-wing national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, urged Netanyahu to reject a ceasefire. On X, he said: "An agreement with Lebanon is a big mistake. A historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah. I understand all the constraints and reasons, and it is still a grave mistake."
He urged the military to continue to weaken the group, considered terrorists by countries including the US and UK.
"You have to listen to the commanders fighting in the field, listen to the heads of the authorities. Precisely now, when Hezbollah is beaten and longs for a cease-fire, it is forbidden to stop. As I warned before in Gaza, I warn now as well: Mr. Prime Minister - it is not too late to stop this agreement! We must continue until the absolute victory!"
Iran has backed a ceasefire, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying last month in Beirut: "We support efforts for a ceasefire on the condition that it would be acceptable to the Lebanese people, acceptable to the resistance, and thirdly, it would be synchronized with a ceasefire in Gaza."
