Pro-Iranian armed factions have announced their activities in eastern Syria, targeting American bases with explosive drones due to developments in Gaza. Meanwhile, local sources have reported that Iran continues to bring military reinforcements from Iraq into Syria. Following the entry of dozens of Iraqi "Popular Mobilization" members in recent days, opposition media reported that over 50 individuals from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, holding Iraqi and Lebanese citizenships, crossed through civilian vehicles in batches via the Syrian-Iraqi land border to the town of Al-Bukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
Informed sources told the local site "Baladi News" that these individuals arrived on Saturday and settled in a Revolutionary Guard military location near Al-Fayhaa Hospital in Al-Bukamal, and they were transported in military vehicles to the towns of Al-Quriyah and Al-Tayyibah in eastern Deir ez-Zor. A previous report from "Ain Al-Furat" indicated that about 100 members of the Iraqi "Popular Mobilization" had entered through the Al-Sakak and Al-Bukamal crossings, protected by vehicles belonging to the Iranian security office in the city of Al-Bukamal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Iranian militia leadership plans to send trained fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the area to train local volunteers from the eastern Euphrates. There have been "suspicious movements" along the river that separates the areas controlled by Iranian militias from those controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) recently.
In this context, reports from various sources indicate that Iran is recruiting young men who have noticeably been absent from the streets in recent days in eastern areas, according to local sources, due to fear of persecution by government forces and being forced into mandatory military service. The site "Ain Al-Furat" disclosed that sources described as "special" reported a meeting between leaders of Iranian-backed factions and several local dignitaries and influential figures in the region. The Iranian factions allegedly offered the tribal leaders assistance in conscripting their sons into their ranks, in exchange for many incentives, including the provision of security cards and weapons.
Recent reports from eastern Syria indicate that a leader of these factions and several security officers from the Syrian government have held multiple meetings with dignitaries from the Al-Bukamal area in the past few days. Additionally, a number of specialists in advanced weapons and drones from the Iraqi "Popular Mobilization" have been transferred to the villages of Hadr and Tarnaja in the Quneitra countryside.
The Syrian Observatory's report indicated that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced its need to recruit about 1,000 members into its ranks, opening recruitment in the city of Deir ez-Zor and the villages of Hatlah, Marat, and Al-Husayniyah, with a monthly salary of one and a half million Syrian pounds set for new recruits. The age range for volunteers was defined as between 14 and 30 years old. It was noted that the recruitment of young men was assigned to several local leaders of the Iranian factions, with volunteers required to undergo military training before being transferred to Damascus, and from there to Lebanon via the Lebanese Hezbollah, to head to Palestine and participate in fighting against Israel.
The observatory also reported that Iranian-affiliated factions transferred more than 300 special forces fighters and others from Deir ez-Zor, Homs, and Aleppo to the Quneitra, rural Damascus, and the border with the occupied Golan. Among those transferred were dozens of fighters who had been urgently trained in Deir ez-Zor specifically within the "Ayyash" camp by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. According to observatory sources, Hezbollah and the "Syrian Resistance for the Liberation of the Golan" have alerted their Syrian and Lebanese fighters to fully mobilize within their positions in western rural Damascus near the border with Lebanon and the occupied Golan, as well as to bring in military and logistical reinforcements and fortify those positions while relocating weapons to safer locations and activating a state of readiness for any potential targets by Israel amidst rising tensions in the region and the likelihood of an expanded conflict in Gaza.
