Iran Sends Missiles to Iraqi Hezbollah in East Syria

Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
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Iran Sends Missiles to Iraqi Hezbollah in East Syria

Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)

Short and medium range surface-to-surface Iranian missiles were delivered Friday to the Iraqi Hezbollah near the regime-controlled town of Al-Tabani in the western countryside of Syria’s Deir Ezzor province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 56 missiles were delivered to the Hezbollah sites in civilian trucks via unofficial crossings between Syria and Iraq.

Earlier this month, SOHR activists had monitored the Afghan Fatimiyoun Brigade unloading a weapons shipment from four large trucks used for transporting vegetables and fruits.

The trucks were loaded with Iranian-made missiles, coming from Iraq. The shipments were stored in commercial warehouses rented from civilians in the area of Kua Ibn Aswad, located between Al-Mayadeen city and Mahakan town in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

Iranian militias and their supporters are based in positions in Deir Ezzor’s countryside, but they make redeployments from time to time over fear of Israeli airstrikes and unidentified US-led coalition aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Cultural Center won Friday a bid to invest in Al-Nour private hospital in Deir Ezzor city, which belongs to a doctor who has sought asylum in a European country.

The Syrian regime had confiscated the hospital and the doctor’s properties. The center won the bid to operate the hospital in return for 15 million Syrian pounds a year. It has started rehabilitating for reopening.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Hezbollah started recruiting new volunteers at its base in the rural development department building of Deir Ezzor’s Harabish neighborhood. The Party announced that it would give the new recruits monthly salaries of $150 each, exploiting the economic hardship and dire living conditions.

A large number of volunteers applied to join Hezbollah's ranks, seeing the offer as a good deal compared to the wages of regime soldiers and other loyalists, the Observatory said.



Irregular Migration into EU Drops Sharply in 2024, EU Border Agency Says

Migrants wait after a boat carrying 23 people arrived at the port of La Restinga, in the municipality of El Pinar, on the island of El Hierro, Spain, 13 January 2025, where they have been attended to by emergency teams. (EPA)
Migrants wait after a boat carrying 23 people arrived at the port of La Restinga, in the municipality of El Pinar, on the island of El Hierro, Spain, 13 January 2025, where they have been attended to by emergency teams. (EPA)
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Irregular Migration into EU Drops Sharply in 2024, EU Border Agency Says

Migrants wait after a boat carrying 23 people arrived at the port of La Restinga, in the municipality of El Pinar, on the island of El Hierro, Spain, 13 January 2025, where they have been attended to by emergency teams. (EPA)
Migrants wait after a boat carrying 23 people arrived at the port of La Restinga, in the municipality of El Pinar, on the island of El Hierro, Spain, 13 January 2025, where they have been attended to by emergency teams. (EPA)

The number of migrants entering the European Union by irregular routes dropped overall by 38% in 2024, reaching the lowest level since 2021, the EU border agency Frontex said on Tuesday.

However, the number of people crossing from the EU's borders with Belarus and Russia jumped 192% to 17,000, Frontex said.

Significant numbers of migrants or asylum-seekers also came from Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and African countries even as routes into the bloc shifted.

Irregular migration has become a key issue in European politics with many far-right and populist parties campaigning in recent and upcoming elections, including in Germany next month, on promises of getting tough on migration.

Frontex said the drop to just over 239,000 irregular border crossings last year was thanks to intensified EU and partner cooperation against smuggling networks. It was the lowest level since 2021 when migration was still affected by the COVID pandemic.

The overall reduction in irregular migration was mainly driven by a 59% plunge in arrivals via the Central Mediterranean route due to fewer departures from Tunisia and Libya and a 78% fall on the Western Balkan route thanks to strong efforts by countries in the region to stem the flow, Frontex said.

But there were 14% more cases, reaching 69,400, of irregular border crossing attempts on the Eastern Mediterranean route driven by new corridors from eastern Libya, with migrants predominantly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Egypt.

There was also an 18% rise in the number of migrants taking the Western African route to reach the Canary Islands with arrivals reaching almost 47,000 last year, fueled by departures from Mauritania.

"While 2024 saw a significant reduction in irregular border crossings, it also highlighted emerging risks and shifting dynamics," Frontex head Hans Leijtens said.