Media: What are the targets of Syria's new pro-Iranian armed front?

A newly formed pro-Iranian armed group in Syria has vowed to oppose U.S., Israeli, and Turkish efforts to divide the country.

The group, which calls itself the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, made its intentions clear in a statement released earlier this week. The statement disseminated by Iranian media was attributed to the group's unnamed commander, an Israeli news outlet noted.

According to the commander, the formation of the Islamic Resistance Front is a “legitimate response” to the ongoing "attempts at division, starvation, displacement, arrests, and systematic killings" currently occurring in Syria. The commander added, “The front emerged from the representatives of the Syrian people to confront any attempts to undermine the country's security in the absence of the Syrian Arab Army and the political and social forces that used to govern Syria.”

He further condemned a “coordinated Zionist-Turkish-American displacement plan,” supported by Arab nations, aimed at dividing Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. The commander argued that Assad’s regime, which fell in December 2024, had been the backbone of global resistance and liberation movements since 1970, and its end marks the collapse of a key force resisting foreign interventions.

The formation of the Islamic Resistance Front coincided with Israeli military actions in southern Syria. After Assad’s fall on December 8, 2024, following a rebel offensive, the Israeli army seized a 400-square-kilometer buffer zone in southern Syrian territory, adjacent to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Since then, Israel has conducted multiple ground raids and airstrikes against military targets in the region.

In the context of these actions, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which is aligned with Iran’s "axis of resistance" and has branches in Lebanon and Iraq, announced on December 17, 2024, the creation of the South Syria Liberation Front. The group, calling its formation a response to “Jewish aggression in Syria,” expressed frustration with the lack of international and Arab support for its cause.

On January 11, 2025, the South Syria Liberation Front rebranded itself as the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria – Awli al Bas (Arabic for “People of Strength”). The new name came with a new logo, featuring a hand holding a rifle, similar to the emblem of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israeli forces operating within Syria.

By Tamilla Hasanova