‘We Can Always Look for Other Ways’: Key Iranian Supply Line to Hezbollah Broken After Assad Ouster

Latest Developments
- Iran’s Route through Syria Severed: Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a public address that Hezbollah’s critical supply line – running from Iran through Iraq and Syria into Lebanon – no longer exists following the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by Islamist rebels on December 8. Qassem’s admission marks the first time that the Iranian proxy and U.S.-designated terrorist organization has commented publicly on the ramifications of Assad’s fall from power.
- Syria Helped Connect Iran to Hezbollah: For years, the Islamic Republic has directly shipped weapons across Iraq and Syria into Lebanon to facilitate Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel. Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 has historically been tasked with establishing these smuggling routes through Syria, which the IDF have targeted with airstrikes in recent months.
- Hezbollah Seeks to Establish Ties with Syrian Rebel Groups: Though Hezbollah’s Qassem conceded that his organization lost “its military supply line through Syria,” he emphasized Hezbollah’s goals of reestablishing these routes by coordinating with Islamist groups now in positions of power in Syria like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which spearheaded the ten-day offensive that ousted Assad. Qassem said that their weapons supply routes from Iran through Syria “might come back normally with the new regime,” but added that Hezbollah “can always look for other ways.”







