The security branches of the Syrian regime have seized large quantities of wheat stored by farmers, and others working in the grain trade, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, while sources confirmed that large parts of the crops would be transported to Iraq, where Iranian militias sell them at higher prices.
Sources quoted by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the security officers confiscated more than 80 tons of wheat owned by more than 10 farmers in the area, because of their refusal to hand over the crop to the Euphrates Center.
The security branches and consumer protection committees also imposed fines on violators amounting to about 500 million Syrian pounds.
The Iranian militias, with the facilitation of the security branches, harvested agricultural crops from the lands they seized, in preparation for transferring them to Iraq to sell them at a higher price. Those lands are usually owned by families, who fled the area during the control of militias in 2017.
In order to tighten control over sales operations, close all outlets to farmers and prevent the exit of crops to other Syrian governorates, the militias prevent farmers from selling their produce in the free market.
SOHR reported that farmers who objected these measures were subjected to arrest and threats.
