IRGC-affiliated Company to Operate Mobile Service Network in Syria

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad meets with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad meets with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
TT
20

IRGC-affiliated Company to Operate Mobile Service Network in Syria

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad meets with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad meets with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

An agreement between an Iranian company backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Syrian state-owned telecommunications corporation to operate a third mobile operator in Syria has been recently confirmed.

The agreement will provide the acquisition of stakes from Syriatel and MTN, amid ongoing negotiations to finalize the terms of the contract and the distribution of shares among businessmen and official figures in Damascus and Tehran.

The announcement came days after the start of proceedings against Syriatel, of which Rami Makhlouf - the cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – is the main shareholder. News emerged about some of the company’s shares being transferred to the “Martyrs’ Fund” of the Syrian army.

Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis visited Tehran in early 2017, where he signed several MoUs concerning a third mobile operator to be run by an Iranian company, the investment in Syrian phosphate for 99 years, the acquisition of land for agricultural and industrial purposes, and the establishment of an oil port the Mediterranean, in addition to the signing of a new $1 billion credit line from Iran, part of which is used to finance the export of crude oil and petroleum products to Syria.

Moscow’s intervention and a quota dispute have prevented the implementation of these agreements over the past two years. The Russian side has acquired the phosphate project near Palmyra. Syria has one of the largest phosphate reserves in the world with 1.8 billion tons, most of which is located in the east, and part of which is exported to Iran.

With the decline of military operations near Damascus and southern Syria, Damascus and Tehran have given new impetus to their economic relations.

Earlier this year, Khamis and Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri presided over the joint committee's meetings, where nine MoUs were signed in the fields of railways, building houses, investment, and “combating the financing of terrorism and money laundering, in addition to education and culture.”



Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
TT
20

Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS

Greece's government said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete, following a spike in arrivals from Libya.

More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.

Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.

“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told parliament Wednesday. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that ... it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”

According to The Associated Press, the suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said. “The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.

Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.