Syria lifted restrictions that it had imposed briefly this week on the entry of Americans, according to what the Director of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation at the General Authority of Ports and Customs, Mazen Alloush, told Agence France-Presse on Friday.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's rule, in late December 2024, Syria has allowed foreigners to enter its territory without a prior entry visa. They can obtain it upon arrival at land border crossings and the airport.
But a few days ago, Americans complained on social media that they were denied entry, on the grounds that they needed to obtain a visa in advance.
Alloush explained that “the procedures related to the entry of American citizens into the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic have returned to what they were previously, after canceling the requirement to obtain prior approval, which had been temporarily imposed by the Ministry of the Interior.” He stressed that “there has been no change in the entry procedures for citizens of other countries, and they continue in accordance with the previously established instructions.”
During the first half of 2026, Syria received 719,000 foreign tourists and 664,000 tourists from Arab countries, according to the Ministry of Tourism. This number represents a significant increase compared to the same period in 2025, during which the arrival of 131,000 non-Arab foreign visitors was recorded.
This reflects the return of stability to the country after a 14-year war, while the first months following the overthrow of Assad witnessed violence. During the war, Syria experienced almost complete international isolation, but gradually, international flights began to resume from Damascus Airport.
It was reported in Baghdad, on Friday, that a high-level security and investigative committee began its field missions in the Jurf al-Sakhar area, north of Babil Governorate, to investigate information about the smuggling of petroleum derivatives, in a step that coincides with the escalation of the dispute between the Iraqi government and the “Hezbollah Brigades” regarding the mechanism for dealing with the region, and the issue of restricting weapons to the state.
According to reports, military units moved towards the vicinity of the area, with the aim of securing the entry of the investigative committee and conducting field inspections of the sites included in the investigation, before political interventions and mediations led to the suspension of the military movement, amid a dispute over the committee’s entry mechanism and the body supervising its work.
Video clips showed the deployment of a large military force at the entrance to the area, before a delegation from the committee arrived at one of the security headquarters there, where it held a meeting with leaders from the factions, most likely from the “phalange,” according to local sources and information.
In one of the video clips, broadcast by the Sabreen News channel, which is close to the factions, a leader in the Phalange appeared giving a speech during a meeting with a large number of Interior Ministry officers.
However, the head of security media, Saad Maan, confirmed on Friday that no political parties or factions are participating in the investigation committee into the smuggling of petroleum derivatives in Jurf al-Nasr.
Maan told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “there are no political parties or factions within the investigative committee in charge of the oil derivatives smuggling file in the Jurf al-Nasr area,” noting that “the committee began its work in the field since the early hours of the morning.”
He explained that “the investigation relates to information related to the smuggling of petroleum derivatives within the Jurf Al-Nasr area,” noting that “the committee arrived since the morning and began the procedures related to the investigation, and it is present in the region and working in the field.”
A security source told the local Shafaq News agency that the committee conducted an initial inspection of the sites, after agreeing with the representatives of the factions on the investigation mechanism and organizing its field tours, and to submit a report on the results of its work to the higher authorities.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ali Al-Zaidi, issued an order to form the committee, headed by the Director General of Discipline and Security of the Popular Mobilization Forces, and with membership of representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Intelligence and Integrity Services, the Ministry of Oil, the Security Services, Forensic Evidence, and the Energy Police.
According to the document issued by the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and signed by the Director of the Office, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, on November 12, the committee is responsible for investigating information related to the smuggling of petroleum derivatives within the Jurf Al-Sakhr region.
The formation of the committee came after a meeting that lasted more than three hours in the government palace in Baghdad, which brought together Al-Zaidi with the leader of the Badr Organization, Hadi Al-Amiri, the head of the “Popular Mobilization Authority,” Faleh Al-Fayyad, and the chief of staff of the authority, Abdul Aziz Al-Muhammadawi, known as “Abu Fadak,” to discuss mechanisms for dealing with the “Hezbollah Brigades,” according to what Shafaq News Agency reported, quoting an informed source.
The source said that during the meeting, Al-Zaidi stressed the necessity of dealing with outlaws in accordance with the Iraqi laws in force, while Al-Amiri and Al-Fayyad proposed giving the concerned parties an opportunity to rearrange their situation and return to dialogue with the aim of reaching a settlement regarding the weapons file.
He added that the proposal includes the continuation of the work of the Quartet charged with negotiating with the armed factions, seeking an agreement that addresses existing differences and maintains internal stability.
A government advisor who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat attributed the change in the government’s approach with Jurf al-Sakhar to the fact that “the state is not only facing forces that possess weapons, but rather that it has become capable of influencing the political decision,” indicating that “the government gives priority to restoring sovereignty without there being a confrontation with society or its components.”
The field movements coincided with reports of directives to place the military units under the command of the Commander-in-Chief on alert “C”, which is the highest level of military and security alert in Iraq, and requires raising the readiness of the forces and restricting vacations.
The direct reasons for declaring a state of alarm or the specific duration of its continuation were not clear, according to a security source.
In the same context, the Ministry of Defense announced the holding of an expanded security meeting, on Friday, headed by the Minister of Defense and in the presence of the Army Chief of Staff and senior military commanders, to discuss the security conditions in various sectors of operations.
Disagreements regarding dealing with the Hezbollah Brigades had caused, a few days ago, the failure of an expanded meeting of the leaders of the “coordination framework” with the Prime Minister, which was scheduled for Monday evening, amid the Quartet’s failure to make announced progress in its negotiations with the factions regarding restricting weapons to the state.
In addition, the Governor of Babylon, Ali Turki, who belongs to Asaib Ahl al-Haq, submitted his resignation from his position, after his recent statements in which he refuted the existence of any oil smuggling from the Jurf al-Sakhar area.
According to informed sources, Turki’s statements, which came without the knowledge of the Iraqi federal government, were also not in coordination with the leadership of Asa’ib, which led to him being forced to submit his resignation under direct orders from the movement’s official, Qais Khazali.
The Jurf al-Sakhr area has been one of the most important faction strongholds since 2014, and it is believed that it has turned into a strategic military base for the factions that includes camps, prisons, warehouses, missile factories, and drones. However, many believe that it is an operations center for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which is denied by factional circles and parties in the ruling coalition.
