Material temptation: Iranian militias attract Syrian youth to their ranks

Mustafa Kamel

On the Syrian scene, Shiites and recruiting operations for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards militia and Lebanese Hizballah have emerged again, and these militias have sought to attract young people, by playing on sectarian strings, and generously providing money in exchange for joining the Arabs in the Syrian regions and governorates.

The phenomenon of Shiism and recruitment is not new to Iranian militias in some Syrian regions, and it renews from time to time with the opening of new spaces for them, as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that Iranian militias took advantage of the international media’s preoccupation with the ongoing agreement between Turkey and Russia and worked secretly to mobilize many forces in its ranks.

Playing on sectarianism

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the terrorist militias affiliated with both the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah, who are present in Syria, are operating in a secret and public manner, in light of the international media’s preoccupation with the agreement between Putin and the new Erdogan in Northern Syria.

The Observatory said, in a statement on Monday, March 16, 2020, that the Iranian militias continued their recruitment in southern Syria and the western banks of the Euphrates River, revealing that the Al-Ain Brigades of the 313 brigade operating in the north of the Syrian city of Daraa, in addition to the centers of Sidon, Dael, and Izra, were conducting an operation against Shiism and systematic recruitment.

The Lebanese Hezbollah continues to consolidate its influence in Quneitra by attracting young men fleeing the pursuit of the Syrian security services regarding compulsory and reserve service, and due to the deterioration of living conditions with the lack of job opportunities, recruitment and funeral operations are concentrated in all the cities of the Baath and Khan Arnaba.

In the west of the Euphrates, recruitment operations are concentrated within the region from the city of Al-Mayadeen to Al-Bukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, where the new recruits undergo training courses in the Al-Lajat area east of the city of Daraa, and close to the border with the Syrian Golan.

The Syrian Observatory confirmed that the number of volunteers for Iranian militias in southern Syria increased during March to more than 5,350, while the number of those recruited into the ranks of the Iranian forces and their militias increased after Shi’a operations, within the area west of the Euphrates River in the countryside of Deir Ezzor to about 3,600 Syrian youth and men of different ages.

Iranian funded clans

Although this phenomenon is not new to the Iranian militias, it has again worked underground, exploiting the situation in northern Syria, and has created tribal militias funded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the city of Al-Mayadeen.

According to the Syrian Observatory, Iran is working hard to take advantage of the area extending from the city of Al-Mayadeen to the Syrian-Iraqi border, as well as in the eastern countryside of Homs from the city of Palmyra based on Albukamal in southern Syria, despite regional agreements, that the influence of the Lebanese Hezbollah in this region ends.