The Syrian Popular Mobilization Forces is the new arm of Al-Qaterji

The rumors that circulated recently about placing Hossam Al-Qaterji, a businessman close to the Syrian government, under house arrest and closing his companies in Aleppo, as a result of his dispute with Muhammad Hamsho, and then interpreting the news as a dispute with Asma al-Assad, were nothing new. Rather, it can be considered continuous news that circulated throughout the period of the Qaterji brothers’ rise within the economy of the Syrian regime’s government, as rumors ranged from arrest to house arrest and stripping him of his property…
But the truth is that after every news about them, the Katerji brothers appear to surprise those spreading the rumors that they are still continuing to inflate their wealth, and that these rumors are nothing more than a fog that hides their movements.
Among these movements was what was leaked from an official source in the security services in Damascus about a meeting of Muhammad Baraa Al-Qaterji in mid-June 2024 with Ali Akbar, Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, and a number of Iranian officials there, without the source indicating the reasons for the visit. Or if the Syrian regime government is behind this visit, Or it came at the invitation of the Iranians themselves to build new alliances in the Syrian arena, trying to benefit from Al-Qaterji’s influence and military power in the areas of the Autonomous Administration and the areas west of the Euphrates, including his relationship with factions of the opposition through the goods smuggling and Captagon network. Especially since the Qaterji brothers obtained Iranian citizenship in 2022.
During those meetings, they agreed on several economic and military projects.
In the economic field: Iran offered to help Al-Qaterji by providing its channels to evade the European and American sanctions imposed on them by the “Qaterji brothers”, as they have investments in several Arab countries, in addition to providing financial support. Al-Qaterji will be the Iranian partner to participate in the reconstruction of Syria.
 The two parties also agreed to Al-Qaterji’s subscription to Al-Madina Bank’s shares and to participate in the opening of another microfinance bank (loans for small and micro projects), in addition to using Al-Qaterji’s channels in banking activities in Syria.
 Creating new private Syrian oil and gas companies, outside of Al-Qatirji Groups, to explore and develop oil and gas fields in Syria and entering them in partnership with the Syrian Oil Corporation, in addition to international partnerships with Asian oil companies supported by Iran.
Second: On the military level
No, perhaps the most dangerous thing that was agreed upon on the military side is the establishment of a Syrian popular mobilization through the use of the Qatirji militia and the elements that leaked from the Syrian regime’s government army through the establishment of recruitment centers for this purpose and the use of economic companies as their financiers. Benefiting from the special missions militia affiliated with Al-Qatirji, which operates under the cover of the Syrian regime’s military intelligence and intelligence.
The most important question remains the extent to which Arab normalization initiatives with the Syrian regime’s government are able to monitor Iran’s movements within the structure of the Syrian regime’s government and its control over it.
And the extent of the ability of Arab normalization to change the loyalty of the military structure of the Syrian regime’s government from Iran to the Arab countries, especially since the experience of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces made the Arab countries lose Iraq, made the Iranian threat expand further, and increased its ability to threaten the security of the Arab countries.