Syria · updated 18m ago · 2 min read
Syrian Government And Hezbollah Hold Secret Talks In Turkey To Calm Tensions
Syrian government representatives and Hezbollah held direct talks in Turkey to de-escalate tensions. It was the first known face-to-face meeting between the longtime adversaries.
Whether Iran directly participated in the talks.
2 of 4 outlets skipped it: turkiye actively pressed for the meeting.
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The dispute is about Iran’s role and implied control of Hezbollah’s Syria file.
Secret talks in Turkey
Six sources said representatives of the Syrian government and Hezbollah held face-to-face talks in Turkey last month to try to calm tensions between the longtime foes. The Syrian officials and the Iran-aligned group met secretly at least once last month, with the meeting held at the invitation of Turkish security and intelligence agencies.
The talks included Hezbollah representatives and Syrian intelligence and foreign ministry officials, and the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting had not been previously reported. One Syrian official told the agency that both sides agreed they held no hostility towards one another, and that Syria assured Hezbollah that it would not intervene militarily in Lebanon to disarm the group.
Demands, denials, and progress
Syrian officials asked Hezbollah to help stop cross-border smuggling attempts and dismantle its remaining sleeper cells, particularly in southern Syria. Hezbollah denied the allegation and said it "has no presence whatsoever on Syrian territory and has no involvement in any security or military activity there."
A Lebanese source with direct knowledge of the meeting and its outcomes told the agency that the two sides "made a lot of progress on security issues." The Syrian official said Hezbollah's representatives had not given a direct answer on the request to halt arms smuggling and dismantle its Syria-based cells, but did pledge not to interfere in Syria's affairs.
No final deal, Iran absent
The Syrian official and the Lebanese source told the agency that no final agreement had been reached and that no announcement had been planned. Contact between the two parties via Turkey began about two months ago, and Reuters could not confirm where in Turkey the September meeting was held, how long it lasted, or whether other meetings had been held before or since.
Three sources told the agency that Turkey, a key ally of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, pushed for the meeting as it was keen to be directly involved in those efforts. Iran was absent from the meetings, and the Lebanese security source said Hezbollah attended with Iran's knowledge but that Tehran was disappointed it was not a direct participant and that Sharaa had rebuffed any notion of direct ties to Iran for now.