BICOM

According to an article in today’s Jerusalem Post newspaper, there is concern among Israeli and western authorities that Hezbollah may try to move its military assets from Syria in the next period, because of fears for the future of the Assad regime. The Lebanese Shia Islamist group is thought by Israel to store significant parts of its arsenal on Syrian soil, including its long range missile capability. An IDF official quoted by the paper said that both Iran and Hezbollah were worried by the instability in Syria, and had advisers in the country helping the Assad dictatorship with its attempts to crush the uprising against it. Syria has in the past provided a vital hinterland for Hezbollah during periods of conflict. Damascus maintained a constant flow of arms and supplies across the border during the 2006 Lebanon War. Syria is also widely considered to be a vital stopping point for Iranian weapons on their way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The article did not claim that Hezbollah had yet reached a decision in this regard. Certainly, current indications are that the Assad regime remains confident that it will survive and believes that the ‘worst’ of the uprising is already behind it.