Shafaq News- Damascus (Updated at 13:18)

Syria's Interior Ministry thwarted an attempt to move a shipment of "specialized weapons and missiles" across the Syrian-Iraqi border, an Interior Ministry source told the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Thursday.

Preliminary investigations indicated the shipment was intended to transit Syrian territory to reach Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The General Authority for Border Customs detailed that the “large shipment” of weapons, missiles, and drones was concealed inside an oil tanker bound for the city of Baniyas, at the al-Tanf border crossing.

Iraqi authorities did not comment on the incident.

Syria has become a primary front in efforts to sever Hezbollah's supply lines since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, reversing a decade in which the country served as the main conduit for arming the group. In April and May 2026, the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of 16 suspects over alleged Hezbollah plots to target senior government and religious figures. Hezbollah denied any involvement.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa could handle Hezbollah in Lebanon "differently" and more precisely than Israel, suggesting Syria could play a role in addressing the group.

Al-Sharaa, in a June interview with Al-Mashhad TV, said Damascus would not escalate with Lebanon over Hezbollah and clarified that Trump's remarks were misinterpreted, ruling out any military intervention. He said Syria has a "deep problem" with the group but does not want Lebanon to collapse over it, framing Damascus's approach around stability, coexistence, and economic and development cooperation with Beirut.