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Iran Mobilizes Remnants of Fourth Division to Stoke Syria Unrest

Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division
Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division
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Iran Mobilizes Remnants of Fourth Division to Stoke Syria Unrest

Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division
Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division

The Syria TV website said Iran has been working since early December to mobilize remnants of the Fourth Division, which was linked to Iran and previously overseen by Maher al-Assad, the brother of fugitive President Bashar al-Assad, to inflame the situation in Syria.

Citing regional security sources, the website reported that Iran is utilizing Ghiyath Dalla, the former commander of the Fourth Division, along with Maj. Gen. Kamal Hassan, a former head of military intelligence, and Maj. Gen. Ghassan Bilal, who previously served in the Fourth Division’s command.

According to the sources, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has over recent months kept dozens of officers from the Fourth Division and military intelligence in camps it controls along the Iraqi border, in Lebanon’s Hermel area, and in areas under the control of formations linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party in eastern Syria, is pushing for their return to Syrian territory and the mobilization of former Assad regime elements for a new wave of security operations.

The New York Times recently published a report based on interviews with participants in those moves and a review of correspondence between them, showing that the former leadership figures are determined to reassert their influence in Syria, which remains gripped by tensions more than 13 years after the outbreak of civil war.

The newspaper said it had received credible information that some former figures in the Assad regime are working to build an armed insurgent movement from exile.

One of them is backing a lobbying campaign in Washington, estimated to cost millions of dollars, in the hope of securing control over Syria’s coastal region, the stronghold of the Alawite sect to which Assad and many of his senior military and security commanders belong.

Returning to the information cited by Syria TV, Iran has several objectives in fueling tensions in Syria. Chief among them is easing US pressure on Iran in the Iraqi arena along the Iranian border, where the US envoy to Baghdad is pressing Iraqi factions to disband.

Escalation in Syria would serve as a distraction and diversion from those efforts.

The report said pressure is also expected to intensify on Lebanon’s Hezbollah to complete the process of disarming, with the possibility that it could face new military operations, alongside a potential new Israeli attack on Iran.

Mobilizing remnants of the Assad regime and extending their presence in Syria would give Tehran and Hezbollah greater room to maneuver, rather than remaining confined to a defensive posture.

They could also be used in intelligence operations to track future Israeli movements preemptively.

 

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Arab World

Senior ISIS Security Leader in Syria Lived ‘Semi-Permanently’ in Lebanon

Members of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces during a security operation earlier this year. (ISF file photo)
Members of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces during a security operation earlier this year. (ISF file photo)
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Senior ISIS Security Leader in Syria Lived ‘Semi-Permanently’ in Lebanon

Members of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces during a security operation earlier this year. (ISF file photo)
Members of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces during a security operation earlier this year. (ISF file photo)

A senior ISIS security official arrested in Lebanon had been living in the country on a “semi-permanent” basis, Lebanese judicial sources said. Investigators suspect he served as the group’s general security emir for its self-proclaimed Southern and Central provinces in Syria.

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) said its units continue to carry out preemptive operations to track down extremist cells and dismantle their networks before they can launch attacks.

It announced that it arrested a Syrian national identified by the initials H.R., born in 1994, on June 30.

According to preliminary investigations, the suspect was not a rank-and-file militant but had risen through ISIS’s leadership before assuming responsibility for overseeing the group’s security and operational activities in southern and central Syria.

His duties included supervising security operations, managing militant movements, implementing orders from senior leaders, and coordinating with commanders in other Syrian provinces.

While the ISF declined to disclose where the suspect was arrested or details of his movements inside Lebanon, a Lebanese judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that he was detained in Beirut last week after an intensive intelligence operation tracked his presence in the country.

The source said preliminary questioning showed the suspect had been residing in Lebanon on a near-permanent basis.

He admitted planning attacks inside Syria, including preparations to target a Syrian army barracks in Daraa province and other sites elsewhere in the country.

Lebanese judicial and security authorities are analyzing evidence seized from the suspect, particularly his mobile phone and laptop, to examine his communications, identify the extent of his network, and determine whether he received support or instructions from other parties.

Two of the suspect’s relatives were detained for questioning but later released after investigators found no evidence linking them to the case or the plots.

The source said Lebanese authorities attach particular importance to the investigation because of the suspect’s senior position within ISIS, which could provide valuable intelligence on the group’s networks and operations inside Syria.

Lebanon also plans to coordinate with the relevant Syrian authorities to exchange information on his contacts and determine whether individuals or groups inside Syria were involved in planning any attacks.

The source said the suspect denied any role in the recent Damascus bombings claimed by ISIS but stressed that the investigation remains ongoing pending an examination of his electronic devices.

Arab World

Trump Says Iraq Will Be Rid of Iran ‘Burden’ Soon

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi as they participate in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi as they participate in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Says Iraq Will Be Rid of Iran ‘Burden’ Soon

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi as they participate in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi as they participate in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Tuesday his government will not allow any party to carry weapons outside the authority of the state after the US-led anti-ISIS coalition ends its mission in the country on September 30.

He made his remarks while meeting President Donald Trump at the White House at the beginning of an official visit to the US. The visit will focus on security files, as well as investment, energy and bilateral relations at a time when Baghdad is seeking to bolster its partnership with Washington and maintain balanced relations in the region.

The American administration has been pressuring Iraq to impose state monopoly over arms, meaning cracking down on Iran-aligned armed factions and their influence.

Al-Zaidi said that Iraqi authorities have already received weapons from some armed factions.

“After September 30, we won’t allow any party outside of the state to carry weapons,” he stressed.

Trump, meanwhile, praised the new PM, saying the US is “going to have a long-term relationship with Iraq. We're going to have a long-term relationship with a man that will be a great leader.”

He announced that Washington will reveal next week a major oil partnership with Baghdad. Iraq has “tremendous oil reserves, they have tremendous potential wealth,” he added.

Trump also said the US was ready to support Iraq if it needed protection, but he added that he thinks it may not be necessary.

The US president hailed al-Zaidi, saying he will remain in his position for a long time and that “in a short period of time he's changed that country so much, especially toward their thinking about the United States.”

“It's a great honor to have the Prime Minister of Iraq with us. He's been a great fighter, and he's been a great fan of America,” he went on to say.

US President Donald Trump meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters)

“We're there to help them [Iraq]. We're there to protect them, if need be, but we don't think that's going to be necessary. And their -- their primary, I consider it an opponent. They might have considered a friend, but I consider that an opponent, was Iran, was a big burden on Iraq because they were the bully of the Middle East,” Trump remarked.

“This man is going to be a great leader in the Middle East, beyond Iraq. His influence is going to spread all throughout the Middle East, and we're very happy about it and we are very happy to have you with us.”

Underscoring the complicated competing interests that al-Zaidi is confronting in Iraq, the PM sidestepped a question about Trump's remarks on the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

“At that time, I wasn’t involved in politics," al-Zaidi said. "Let’s talk about the future.”

He stressed that the economic situation in Iraq demanded that his government work on forging a strong partnership with the US, saying Baghdad wants to elevate the ties from crisis management to building economic and investment opportunities.

Before departing Iraq, he said he was keen on effectively deepening the partnership, revealing that he will offer Trump means to achieve that.

“I will deliver a message that Iraq, as a sovereign nation, stands at an equal distance from regional conflicts and chooses to embark on the path of development, extending its hands to friends in the process,” he added.

Iraqi state television said al-Zaidi will also meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior Pentagon officials, as well as members of Congress and head of the World Bank.

He will travel to Houston for meetings with officials from Halliburton, Chevron and ExxonMobil, and head of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Arab World

French PM Visits Morocco to Promote Paris-Rabat Rapprochement

Morocco's King Mohammed VI welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival in the capital Rabat on October 28, 2024 (AFP)
Morocco's King Mohammed VI welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival in the capital Rabat on October 28, 2024 (AFP)
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French PM Visits Morocco to Promote Paris-Rabat Rapprochement

Morocco's King Mohammed VI welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival in the capital Rabat on October 28, 2024 (AFP)
Morocco's King Mohammed VI welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival in the capital Rabat on October 28, 2024 (AFP)

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is set to begin a two-day visit to Morocco on Wednesday, in a move aimed at deepening bilateral ties and paving the way for a possible visit by King Mohammed VI to France.

According to AFP, Lecornu will be accompanied by a delegation of 12 ministers, including Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.

During the visit, he is scheduled to meet Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch as part of a High-Level Meeting between the two governments, the first such gathering since 2019.

Relations between the two countries improved significantly after French President Emmanuel Macron recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in the summer of 2024.

In October 2024, Macron made a three-day state visit to Rabat, where he received a warm official welcome.

The visit marked the end of three years of strained relations, fueled in particular by allegations of espionage and a visa dispute, and concluded with the signing of numerous bilateral agreements.

Wednesday’s trip marks Lecornu's first foreign visit since taking office in the autumn of 2025.

Following an official military welcome on Wednesday evening, the French and Moroccan prime ministers will lay wreaths at the Mausoleum of Mohammed V on Thursday morning before holding bilateral talks.

A broader meeting between the two government delegations will then take place at Morocco's Foreign Ministry, where several bilateral agreements are expected to be signed.