TEHRAN – Iran has warned the current regime in Damascus that if its forces intervene in Lebanon against Hezbollah, Iran the Islamic Republic will strike hundreds of targets across Syria using missiles and drones, including the presidential palace, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Following Iran’s warning, Syria softened its rhetoric toward Hezbollah and relayed messages to Tehran and Beirut claiming it has no intention of intervening militarily in Lebanon.
The Islamic Republic also warned regional states Turkiye, Iraq, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia that any Syrian campaign against Hezbollah would spark a large-scale regional confrontation across Syrian territory.
Beirut-based Unews reported that Iran thwarted a Syrian military intervention in Lebanon that was being prepared at the request of the U.S.
The agency revealed that the proposed Syrian intervention included seizing the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon and striking Hezbollah’s missile infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley.
The UAE planned to finance a Syrian military aggression in Lebanon, including paying the salaries of the takfiri fighters and financing combat operations.
Saudi Arabia reportedly agreed to support the plan, while Qatar rejected it.
Unews noted that Iraqi intelligence chief Hamid al-Shatri visited Damascus and informed Syrian officials that Baghdad rejected any Syrian expansion into Lebanese territory.
Washington and Tel Aviv wish to use Abu Muhammad al-Jolani in Syria to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capabilities in Lebanon from the east after the efforts of the Israeli military to defeat Hezbollah by invading Lebanese territory from the south were unsuccessful.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use Syria to invade Lebanon and fight Hezbollah.
Last year, U.S. Ambassador to Turkiye and envoy to Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, warned that Lebanon may be incorporated into Syria and again become “Bilad al-Sham.”
In December 2024, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an extremist armed group led by Jolani, toppled former president Bashar al-Assad.
Jolani, formerly an Al-Qaeda and Daesh deputy, then appointed himself president.
HTS was formerly known as the Nusra Front, which was designated as a terrorist group in 2012 by both the UN and the U.S. State Department, despite enjoying covert American support.
Since HTS and Jolani came to power, the U.S. government has openly embraced members of the former terror group, including Jolani himself, who visited the White House to meet Trump in November 2025.