Reuters reported exclusively on October 1st that, according to six sources, representatives of the Syrian government and Hezbollah in Lebanon held face-to-face talks in Turkey, attempting to ease the tensions between the two sides.
According to reports, this is the first time that two parties that have maintained hostile relations have held such talks. Sources said that Tehran was disappointed that it did not have a direct participation in the meeting.
These sources include two Syrian officials, an American official, and a senior Lebanese security officer who is close to Hezbollah. They stated that Syrian officials met with this pro-Iran organization at least once in secret last month.
For many years, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been sending armed personnel to Syria, supporting Bashar al-Assad's government during the Syrian civil war.
By the end of 2024, the Assad regime was overthrown in a lightning attack by anti-government forces. Since then, tensions between the new Syrian government and Hezbollah have intensified. Damascus accused Hezbollah of transporting weapons through Syria, while the United States encouraged the Syrian military to send troops into Lebanon to combat Hezbollah.
Six sources said that the talks last month were led by Turkish security and intelligence agencies. Participants included representatives of Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as officials from Syrian intelligence and foreign affairs departments. The purpose of the talks was to ease tensions between the two sides.
This meeting was never reported before. Due to the sensitive nature of the meeting, all sources requested to remain anonymous.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Syria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Defense of Turkey, as well as the United States Department of State, did not respond immediately to Reuters' questions regarding the talks. The media office of Hezbollah also refused to comment.
On September 22, 2026, local time, in New York, USA, Syrian Transitional Government President Ahmed Salah arrived at the United Nations Headquarters. Visual China.
According to U.S. officials, Syrian officials, and Lebanese sources mentioned above, the focus of the talks was to resolve the conflicting points between both sides, and the overall proceedings were relatively smooth.
One Syrian official said that both parties stated that they had no hostility towards each other. The Syrian side also assured Hezbollah that it would not engage militarily in Lebanon, nor would it participate in disarming Hezbollah.
In response, Syrian officials demanded that Hezbollah assist in stopping cross-border smuggling activities and eliminating its remaining “underground units” within Syria, especially in the southern regions of Syria.
The Syrian official said that Hezbollah representatives did not directly respond to requests to stop arms smuggling and remove relevant groups from Syria, but promised not to interfere in Syrian affairs.
A Lebanese source privy to the discussions and their outcomes stated that both sides "made significant progress on security matters."
"The God Party hopes to protect their own wing." said this source, referring to the God Party's fear that Syria may launch an attack on it within Lebanon.
Syrian officials and Lebanese sources both stated that no formal agreement was reached between the two sides, and there are no plans to announce the details of the talks to the public.
Lebanese sources also told Reuters that the connection between the two sides through Turkey began about two months ago.
Previously, both Hezbollah and the Syrian government have expressed their willingness to engage with each other.
Turkey has always positioned itself as an important participant in the process of Syrian reconstruction and stability. Under President Erdogan, Ankara also attempts to play a role as a facilitator of regional dialogue, with the hope of enhancing regional stability.
Three sources said that it was Turkey that pushed for this meeting. As a key ally of Syrian transitional government president Ahmed Sharaf, Turkey wanted to be directly involved in the mediation efforts.
However, Iran, a major supporter of Hezbollah in Lebanon, did not participate in these talks.
According to Lebanese sources, Hezbollah participated in the talks with knowledge of Iran's involvement. However, Tehran expressed disappointment over its failure to be directly involved in the talks. Meanwhile, Salah also refuses to establish direct relations with Iran.
According to this source, Iran’s dissatisfaction is the main reason why Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon were unable to reach a formal agreement, and they also did not announce the talks to the outside world.
The Iranian permanent mission in Geneva has not commented on this matter yet.
