Leaked documents show size of Iran’s support to Syria

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Leaked documents from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that Tehran spent $50 billion to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the Middle East Monitor reported on Friday.

The Middle East Monitor reported that an Iranian hacking group leaked documents that show that in the past ten years Iran exported oil and “paid lines of credit and other payments to Damascus as well as cash to the Syrian government.”

The hacking group Uprising till Overthrow, affiliated with the Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) opposition Albania-based group, that was previously armed but has turned mainly into a political advocacy group.

The documents reveal Iran made agreements with the al-Assad’s government in September 2022 to restore only $18 billion of the “debts” in the form of “investment and the transfer of phosphates, oil and other resources from Syria” within the next 50 years.

Iranian authorities did not comment on the leaked documents, but the Iranian media has covered most of the projects and agreements mentioned in the documents over the years.

Iran and Syria have been strategic allies since the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. In 2011, when the Syrian civil war broke out, Iran intervened and provided significant logistical, technical and financial support, in addition to training and troops for the Syrian government. Iran sees the survival of the Syrian government crucial to its interest in the region.

In government-held areas, Iran promotes Shiite doctrine to increase and facilitate its penetration through militarization of the population, influencing the locals and businessmen, and building cultural center and shrines.

By Stella Youssef