On the night of November 8th, a convoy of fuel trucks was struck with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) near the Iraq-Syria border crossing. The American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported that the strike destroyed weaponry en route from Iran to Lebanon.
The pro-regime Syrian newspaper al-Watan reported, based on sources in Tehran, about a decision of the Iranian government to increase the export of oil to Syria to three million barrels per month. The newspaper noted that the arrival of oil tankers to Syria, which was resumed in June 2022, continues to take place regularly.
The secretary general of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought visited Syria and met with the Syrian minister of religious endowments and Syrian clerics and discussed ways to further religious cooperation between the two countries.
In mid-November, the commander of the Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) arrived for a visit to Baghdad, where he met with senior Iraqi government officials and leaders of pro-Iranian Shia factions.
The chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces spoke on the phone with Iraq’s incoming minister of defense and expressed willingness to expand Iranian military and security assistance to Iraq.
On November 14th, the IRGC again struck targets linked to the exiled Iranian-Kurdish opposition based in northern Iraq. The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack.
In early November, the Iranian ambassador to Damascus met with representatives of Palestinian factions in Syria. Additionally, the secretary general of the International Conference for Supporting the Palestinian Intifada and several Iranian parliament members met in Damascus with commanders of several Palestinian factions.
Iranian Involvement in Syria
On November 8, Syrian and Iraqi outlets reported on a strike of fuel tankers near the Iraqi-Syrian border. According to these reports, the convoy was struck with a UAV near the Albu Kamal border crossing. One of the reports claimed that the tanker convoy was guarded by a Lebanese Hezbollah force, which began accompanying it after it had crossed from Iraq to Syria (Naher Media, November 8). The pro-Hezbollah Lebanese TV channel al-Mayadin alleged (November 9) that Israel is behind the strike. The American daily Wall Street Journal also reported (November 9) that Israel is behind the strike, which destroyed weaponry en route from Iran to Lebanon. According to this report, the strike occurred after the convoy had crossed from Iraq to Syria, and resulted in the death of at least ten people, some of them Iranians. Officials in Iraq told the American paper that the convoy was moving fuel from Iran to Lebanon, but other sources claimed that some of the vehicles in the convoy contained ammunition and missiles. The Spokesperson of the US Army military command (CENTCOM), Joe Buccino, denied claims that the United States was behind the strike (Washington Post, November 9). The Iranian official news agency IRNA reported (November 10) that only two of the tankers out of 22 tankers in total that were part of the convoy, were damaged, and that the strike resulted in no casualties. According to this report, the tankers were struck on their way from Iran to Lebanon, passing through Iraq and Syria.
A Syrian news website affiliated with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported that the IRGC carried out a series of arrests following the leaking of reports and images of military positions in Deir Ezzor and their publication on social media. According to this report, the IRGC arrested 12 combatants and over ten civilians. Additionally, the IRGC adopted a series of preventative steps, including installing security cameras and banning the use of cellphones during work hours, to prevent such leaks from occurring again (North Press Agency, November 12).
The Executive Director of the Joint Iranian-Syrian Chamber of Commerce, Kivan Kashefi, expressed hope that the volume of Iranian exports to Syria will rise from 247 million dollars recorded last year, to 300 million dollars during this year. In a webinar that focused on identifying ways to expand trade between Iran and Syria, Kashefi declared that the post-war reconstruction process in Syria provides Iranian companies with opportunities to invest in the construction, technical services, engineering and industrial sectors, including by building power plants, rebuilding factories and constructing bridges and roads. He stressed the needs to implement the Free Trade Agreement previously signed between the two countries, and to assist in solving the two major problems hindering the expansion of trade: the challenge of ground transportation from Iran to Syria, and banking ties (ISNA, November 9).
The pro-regime Syrian al-Watan newspaper reported (November 10) based on sources in Tehran that Iran intends to expand the export of oil from Syria from two to three million barrels of oil per month, to bolster economic ties between the two countries, and assist Syria in overcoming its energy crisis. The report also stated that this matter was also discussed during the meeting between the Iranian Minister of Transportation, Rostam Qasemi, and President Assad in Damascus in October 2022, as well as during the visit of the Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Faysal Mekdad, to Tehran in early November 2022. The newspaper remarked that the arrival of Iranian oil tankers to Syria takes place on a regular basis. The movement of tankers was resumed in June 2022 after an agreement reached during President Assad’s visit to Tehran in May 2022. The agreement solved difficulties concerning the Iranian credit line to Syria.
On November 13, the Iranian Ambassador to Damascus, Mehdi Sobhani, met with the Syrian Minister of Religious Endowments, Ayman Sousan, and discussed regional and international developments, as well as bilateral cooperation (ISNA, November 13).
On November 7, the Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Hojjat ul-Islam Hamid Shahriari, arrived for a visit to Damascus, during which he met with the Syrian Minister of Religious Endowments, Mohammad Abd al-Sattar al-Sayed and Syrian clerics. During his meeting with the minister of religious endowments, the two discussed religious cooperation between Iran and Syria, and ways to bolster ties between clerics in both countries (ISNA, November 8). The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, which operates out of the office of the Supreme Leader of Iran, conducts intra-Islamic conferences and promotes activities intended to encourage dialogue between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
On November 14, the Iranian Ambassador to Syria, Mehdi Sobhani, met with prominent Syrian tribal personalities and Syrian elected officials. In the meeting, the Syrians condemned the attack carried out on October 27 at the Shah Cheragh Mosque in Shiraz City (ISNA, November 14).
Iranian Involvement in Iraq
On November 15, the Commander of the IRGC’s Qods Force, Esmail Qa’ani, arrived for a visit to Baghdad. During his stay, Qa’ani met with senior Iraqi officials, including the Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, and the Prime Minister of Iraq, Muhammad Shaya al-Sudani, and also met with the leaders of the Coordination Framework (the bloc of pro-Iran Shia factions) and discussed political developments in Iraq with them (Mehr, November 15).
On November 7, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, Mohammad Baqeri, spoke on the phone with the incoming Iraqi Minister of Defense, Thabet Muhammad al-Abbasi, and discussed security cooperation between the two nations. Baqeri declared that the Armed Forces of Iran are willing to share with the Iraqi Armed Forces their multiple capabilities in various spheres, including combatting terrorism and the military industry, to contribute to Iraq’s security. He remarked that the agreement concerning security cooperation signed between Iran and Iraq in 2015 is yet to be fully implemented, and that officials and commanders of various ranks in both countries should hold discussions to promote the cooperation. The Iraqi minister of defense expressed appreciation for Iran’s role in combatting terrorism in his country and defeating ISIS, as well for its role in supporting the formation of the new Iraqi government. The Iraqi minister remarked that Iraqi Security Forces are willing to engage in any form of military cooperation with the Islamic Republic (ISNA, November 7).
On November 14, the IRGC once again struck targets of the Kurdish opposition near Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. A statement issued by the IRGC declared that the attack, carried out by ballistic missiles and UAVs, was aimed at military bases of “terrorist groups” operating in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (Fars, November 14). The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the strike, labeling it as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty (Tasnim, November 14).
On November 6, the Iranian Cultural Attaché in Baghdad, Gholam Reza Abazari, met with the Iraqi Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Naeem al-Aboudi, and discussed cooperation between the two nations in the scientific and cultural spheres, including academic cooperation, and particularly in the medical, engineer and scientific research fields (IRNA, November 6).
The Secretary General of the Joint Iranian-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, Jahanbakhsh Sanjanj Shirazi, reported that during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March – October 2022), a marked drop was observed in the volume of trade between Iraq and Iran. He estimated, however, that the volume of Iranian exports to Iraq, which during the previous year stood at 8.86 billion dollars, will reach, between 9 to 10 billion dollars by the end of the current year (Fars, November 11).
Iranian Involvement in the Palestinian Arena
On November 2, the Iranian Ambassador to Damascus, Mehdi Sobhani, met with representatives of Palestinian factions in Damascus, who arrived to condemn the attack carried out on October 27 in the Shah Cheragh Mosque in Shiraz. The attendees of the meeting included representatives from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Fatah Intifada, the Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (IRNA, November 2).
On November 13, Mojtaba Abtahi, the Secretary General of the International Committee for Supporting the Palestinian Intifada, met in Damascus with the heads of the Palestinian liberation fronts and declared that Israel will be annihilated within four to six years. The meeting was attended by several Iranian Majlis members. Abtahi stressed Iran’s unyielding support for the Palestinian resistance, and the call of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to eradicate the “Israeli regime.” He remarked that Iran and the resistance axis are stronger than ever and are striving for a world cleansed of the “Israeli regime” and for the return of the Palestinians to their homeland (IRNA, November 13).
