New Syrian Government Distanced Itself From Israel-Iran War

Memri

8 hours ago

In contrast to many Arab countries that condemned Israel for its war on Iran between June 13-24, 2025, Syria under its new government – helmed by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, head of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) organization) – stood out for choosing to remain neutral and refrain from expressing any position on the Israel-Iran war.[1] Syria is apparently uninterested in showing solidarity with either of the warring sides. Iran is seen as a rival of the new Syrian government due to its longstanding support for the deposed regime of Bashar Al-Assad, which fell on December 8, 2024, and its participation in fighting against Assad's opponents. As for Israel, Syria's relations with it are complicated. Since Al-Sharaa's rise to power, Israel has expanded its airstrikes in Syria, eliciting numerous condemnations from the new government. Nevertheless, with American encouragement, the two sides have held indirect contacts – and reportedly also direct ones – in an effort to reach an agreement.[2]
The current priority of the Al-Sharaa government is to consolidate Syria's security and stability in order to rehabilitate its economy and rebuild the country in accordance with the government's vision. Hence, it made significant efforts to distance Syria from the Israel-Iran war and to prevent the hostilities from spilling over into Syrian territory. However, Syria's geographic location does not allow for complete disengagement. During the war Israeli warplanes, as well as Iranian missiles and drones, passed through Syrian airspace on a daily basis, and the interception of Iranian weapons over Syria occasionally caused casualties and damage there, sparking criticism against the Syrian government.
Moreover, Iran made active efforts to expand the war into Syria and other countries in an effort to reduce the Israeli strikes against it. In this context, it reportedly attempted to mobilize its affiliated militias within Syrian territory to carry out security provocations, including attacks on American bases in the country. In addition, officials of the former Syrian regime sought Iran's assistance to act against the new Syrian government and against Israel. In response, the Syrian government increased its military presence in areas where pro-Iranian elements remain and tool action against them.
Parts of an Iranian drone intercepted by Israel in the western Daraa Governorate in southern Syria (Image: Facebook.com/HoranFreeMedia, June 20, 2025)
This report reviews the position taken by the Al-Sharaa government on the Israel-Iran war, the attempts made by Iran to escalate the situation in Syria and other countries in order to expand the scope of the conflict, and the Syrian government's response to these efforts.
New Syrian Government Maintained Neutrality While Syrian Airspace Remained Exposed
Throughout the Israel-Iran war, the Syrian government maintained complete silence about it, and circles close to the government conveyed that it did not wish to be involved in the conflict in any way. Sources familiar with the government said that, 'given the fragile situation in Syria and the desire to rebuild the country, it is not possible to issue uncalculated statements about two rivals who have both contributed to Syria's destruction.' The sources emphasized that the Syrian government was 'extremely cautious' regarding the war in the region and was unlikely to issue condemnations of either side—unless Syria itself was directly harmed.[3] Another source close to the government suggested that the war could even be a positive development for Syria, since it caused both the Israelis and the Iranians to cease their interference in Syria's affairs.[4]
Syrian commentators conveyed, in a similar vein, that since both sides of the fight were adversaries of Syria, the Syrian government had no reason to take an explicit position on the war. Wael Alwan, a Syrian researcher with the Turkey-based institute Jusoor for Studies, noted that Iran supported the Assad regime and is hostile to the new Syria, and that Israel likewise views the Syrian government as an adversary and continues its attacks on Syria and its incursions into its territory.[5] Hence, he said, the Syrian government had no reason to side with either of these countries. Similarly, Syrian pollical analyst Bassem Suleiman told the Syrian website Enab Baladi: "The best position for Syria to take is a neutral one. Why should Syria stand with Iran against Israel, or vice versa?"[6]
Nevertheless, Syria could not completely distance itself from the war, given that, due to its geographical location, both the Iranian missiles and drones and the Israeli planes passed through its airspace. Shrapnel from Iranian weapons intercepted by Israel fell in Syria, especially in its southern region, killing one woman, injuring several people and causing extensive damage. Residents of southern Syria expressed concern about this situation, and some even demanded international protection of Syria's airspace.[7] Some also directed criticism at the Syrian government. While they expressed understanding of the government's inability to prevent the infiltration of the country's airspace, due to the absence of the necessary military infrastructure, they nevertheless condemned the lack of assistance for residents whose homes had been destroyed.[8]
Iranian Efforts To Exacerbate The Situation In Syria In Order To Minimize Attacks In Iran
Iran, for its part, sought to expand the escalation in the region into Syria and other Arab countries, so as to at least minimize the attacks in its own territory. To that end, it tried to mobilize its affiliated forces and armed operatives in other countries. The Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat quoted sources in Damascus who claimed that the Syrian government had been warned that Iran would mobilize armed groups and militia operatives with past ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to carry out provocations from Syrian soil. Although Al-Sharaa's government has announced on several occasions that Iran and its militias no longer have a presence in Syria,[9] according to some reports, Iran still has sleeper cells in several parts of the country, as well as some affiliates who remain active, mostly smuggling arms and drugs.[10] According to these sources, the concern was that these groups and militias would attack forces of the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS that are deployed in several parts of northeastern Syria.[11] Indeed, U.S. forces reportedly intercepted Iranian missiles aimed at their bases in northeast Syria, which had been equipped in advance with radar and aerial defense systems as a preventative measure against attacks from Iranian forces or their proxies.[12]
Furthermore, the Euphrates Post news agency, which covers eastern Syria, reported on June 16 that Al-Haj Askar – a prominent IRGC commander who was formerly in charge of the Al-Bukamal area in Deir Al-Zor in eastern Syria, where Iran maintained a significant presence of its affiliates – secretly met in Iraq with elements from the Deir Al-Zur countryside to develop plans for destabilizing security and stability in Syria. It was also reported that a shipment of light weapons had entered Syria from Iraq for affiliates of Iran.[13]
At the same time, some operatives and groups within Syria sought to seize on the Israel-Iran war as an opportunity to upset security in Syria and work against both the new government and Israel. Notable among these operatives was Ghiath Dalla, an Alawite former senior officer in the Syrian army's Forth Division, which was close to Iran during Bashar Al-Assad's rule. According to the Emirati daily The National, Dalla sought hundreds of millions of dollars in support from Iran to form a militia comprising former soldiers of Assad's army which would fight against the new Syrian government and also carry out attacks on Israeli targets. Reportedly, there is a pool of at least 100,000 Alawite former soldiers from which Dalla could recruit – especially given the Alawites' growing fear of the new Syrian government in the wake of the massacres against them on the Syrian coast this past March.[14] According to a Syrian security source, Dalla believed that the Israel-Iran war was "a golden chance to unite the Alawites and form a resistance force supported by Iran, " The source added that "the south [of the country] has remnants of Iranian proxies whom Dalla can re-activate to resume the attacks."[15]
Additionally, a Syrian militia, Formidable in Might – Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, established in January 2025 as resistance to the new Syrian government and to Israel, called for acting against Israel in response to its attacks on Iran. Most of the militia's activity appears to be in the south of the country, and according to its characteristics it likely has links to the Shi'a and to the Iran-led resistance axis.[16] In an announcement, it said: "It is the [Israeli] enemy, which has eliminated commanders in Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut, and today Tehran, that is waging a soft and hard war against the peoples of the entire [Islamic] nation, and therefore we must stand united against it, escalate [the resistance on] the front and intensify the attacks... [The options are] either resistance that will change the balance of power, or surrender that will leave us without honor or a homeland."[17]
However, so far there has been no escalation against Israel from Syrian territory.
Syria Worked To Prevent The War From Spilling Over Into Its Territory
Against the backdrop of these reports and the warnings it received, the new Syrian government made efforts to prevent the war from expanding into Syrian territory. As part of this, security reinforcements were sent to southern Syria to prevent any attempt to carry out an attack on Israel from the region, and it was also reported that the Syrian security forces had seized and confiscated a weapons depot in the area.[18]
In addition, Syrian forces have increased their presence around the border with Iraq in order to act against people and cells affiliated with Iran and against Iran-backed Iraqi forces – primarily led the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a military body parallel to the Iraqi army comprising mainly pro-Iran militias – and to prevent these forces from infiltrating into Syrian territory. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on June 14 that tensions between the two sides had increased after the PMU fired a rocket at a Syrian military post, wounding a Syrian soldier. Syrian forces responded with heavy fire, and international coalition helicopters circled simultaneously along the Syrian-Iraqi border.[19] According to the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, the Syrian government ordered its forces on the Iraqi border to respond to any attempt by the PMU to launch rockets at U.S. bases in northeastern Syria.[20]
At the same time, the Syrian government conducted a security operation in the city of Al-Mayadeen in the Deir Al-Zor governorate, formerly considered a stronghold of pro-Iran forces; during the operation, it arrested 21 people from Iranian militia sleeper cells. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the arrests were due to fears that they would carry out attacks in response to the Israel-Iran war.[21] In this context, the commander of the Syrian security forces in the Deir Al-Zor governorate, Dirar Al-Shamlan, announced that members of the Assad regime and those associated with it were forbidden to possess weapons of any kind.[22]
Syrian forces have also stepped up alertness on the Lebanon border in order to thwart weapons smuggling. It was reported on June 19 that in the Talkalakh area, in western Homs governorate near the border, Syrian security forces seized a shipment of Grad rockets intended for smuggling into Lebanon.[23] Even before the Israel-Iran war, on June 5, Syrian forces intercepted the smuggling of anti-tank missiles into Lebanon.[24] Amid this, Syrian sources reported that the smuggled weapons were often Iranian and that the smuggling network was helmed by former operatives of the Assad regime who were closely coordinating with the IRGC, and that this was taking place under the direct oversight of Iranian officers. According to the Lebanese daily Nidaa Al-Watan, such smuggling increases the risk of severe escalation in the region.[25]
* O. Peri is a research fellow at MEMRI.