ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Syrian interior ministry announced Thursday that its forces seized a "massive" weapons shipment at the country's border with Iraq, adding that preliminary investigations suggest that the arms were intended to be delivered to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

"The operation came after spotting a stationary vehicle within the border area under suspicious circumstances, which was subjected to inspection, resulting in the seizure of a shipment of weapons that included long-range missiles, guided anti-armor missiles, and drones," the ministry said in a statement.

"Preliminary investigations, based on the evidence and indications gathered during the operation, confirmed that the shipment was prepared for transit through Syrian territory toward Lebanon on behalf of the terrorist Hezbollah militia."

Before the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syria served as a crucial land corridor that allowed Hezbollah, a Lebanese paramilitary group and political party, to receive arms and other supplies from its primary external backer, Iran.

Hezbollah fighters were deployed in Syria at the behest of the Assad regime during the country's civil war, where they fought against myriad rebel groups, including Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by current Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who ultimately toppled the Iran-backed government in an unprecedented offensive and assumed power.

The interior ministry asserted that it "will not allow Syrian territory to be exploited as a passage or launchpad for smuggling weapons or carrying out any activities that threaten the security of the Syrian Arab Republic or neighboring countries."

Having been embroiled in a conflict with Israel following its intervention in the US-Israeli war on Iran in March, Hezbollah has found its strategic position enfeebled, with the Lebanese government having agreed with Israel to disarm the militia in areas of southern Lebanon in which Israeli forces have begun a conditional withdrawal.

Owing to the animosity between Syria's new authorities and the Shiite armed group, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken of the prospect of the Syrian military conducting operations in its neighbor to disarm the group, telling reporters on July 9 that he raised the topic with Sharaa at a NATO summit in Ankara but adding that he is "not gonna say what he said."

Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said that "[Sharaa] would go in and take care of Hezbollah, and he'd do it in a different way - he wouldn't knock down buildings" and would "be more precise" than the Israeli military.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israel's campaign has led to the deaths of over 4,300 people in the country since March.

The network of ideological affiliates to Hezbollah and Iran within Iraq are similarly facing growing pressure to disarm, with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi having commenced a sweeping campaign that aims to restrict weapons to the hands of the state.