Vessels sail through the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, on May 20, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

This handout photo provided by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official website Sepah News on April 5, 2026 reportedly shows the wreckage and remains of targeted and crashed aircraft in central Iran.
| Photo Credit: SEPAH news via AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in Washington. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States has encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus is reluctant to ‌embark on such a mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming sectarian tensions, five ​people briefed on the matter said. The proposal to Syria’s U.S.-allied government reflects intensifying moves to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah, which opened fire at Israel in ⁠support of Tehran on March 2, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon.

The idea was first discussed by U.S. and Syrian officials last year, said two of the sources – both Syrian officials – and two others familiar with the discussions. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The idea was raised again by U.S. officials around the time ‌the U.S. and Israel began their war against Iran. The two Syrian officials said a U.S. request came shortly before the war began. A Western intelligence source said it was just after it started.

Reuters spoke to 10 sources for this article – six Syrian officials and government advisors, ‌two Western diplomats, a European official and a Western intelligence source. All said Syria’s Sunni Islamist-led government had been cautiously considering a cross-border operation but remained ‌hesitant.

U.S. ⁠encouragement for a Syrian operation in eastern Lebanon and Syria’s hesitation to carry one out have not previously been reported.

A U.S. State Department ⁠spokesperson declined to comment on “private diplomatic communications”, and referred Reuters to the Syrian and Lebanese governments for comments on their operations.

After this story was published, U.S. envoy for Syria Tom Barrack, who is also ambassador to Turkey, posted on X that “reporting regarding the United States encouraging Syria to send forces into Lebanon is false and inaccurate.”

Damascus offers assurances to Lebanon

Despite historic enmity towards Hezbollah and Tehran – both fought ​alongside Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s 2011-24 civil war – Syrian President Ahmed ‌al-Sharaa has moved cautiously since U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran began on February 28.

One source, a senior Syrian official, said Damascus and its Arab allies agreed Syria should stay out of the war, and take only defensive measures.

Damascus has deployed rocket units and thousands of troops at the Lebanese frontier since early February, calling these measures defensive.

Syria’s ministries of foreign affairs and information did not respond to requests for comment.

Responding to questions from Reuters, Lebanon’s presidency said it had not ‌received any “hint or notice from the U.S., the West, the Arab countries or Syria” about U.S.-Syria discussions on a potential cross-border operation.

Lebanese President Joseph ​Aoun had held a bilateral call with Sharaa, and a trilateral call also involving France’s president, in which Sharaa said Syria respected Lebanon’s sovereignty and had no intervention plans, the presidency said.

It said Lebanon coordinates with Syria on border arrangements but has never discussed Hezbollah ⁠with Damascus.

Lebanon’s military said channels of coordination with Syria remained open “within the framework of addressing border issues and common security challenges”, with the aim of preventing tensions or incidents and ensuring stability in the border area.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Sharaa had told him “the reinforcement of the military presence along the Syrian-Lebanese border aims solely to strengthen border ‌control and maintain internal Syrian security”, and that Sharaa underlined the importance of continued coordination.

Aoun has pursued a policy aimed at securing Hezbollah’s disarmament but Beirut has moved cautiously, with Hezbollah wielding a potent arsenal and enjoying significant support among Lebanese Shi’ite Muslims.

Sharaa has said he supports Aoun’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Damascus sees risk of Iranian attack

The senior Syrian official said Washington had given the green light for an operation into eastern Lebanon to help Lebanon disarm Hezbollah – when the time is right.

But Damascus saw risks including possible Iranian missile attacks and potential for unrest among minority Shi’ites, threatening efforts to stabilise Syria after sectarianviolence last year.

Two Western diplomats also said Washington had approved the idea of a Syrian cross-border operation against Hezbollah. The Western intelligence source and a European official said the U.S. had asked Syria’s army to play a ‌more active role countering Hezbollah in Lebanon, including via a possible incursion into the east.

The Western intelligence source and the European official said Syria’s leadership was wary of entering Lebanon as this could inflame ​bilateral tensions.

A Syrian military official said there was no final decision yet on any possible operation inside Lebanon, but the option of intervening in the event of a conflict between the Lebanese state and Hezbollah remained on the table.

Syrian domination under Assads

Syria long dominated ⁠Lebanon under the Assads, sending in forces in 1976 during the 1975-90 civil war at the invitation of President Suleiman Frangieh and controlling Lebanon’s post-war politics until its withdrawal in ⁠2005.

Any Syrian intervention could fuel sectarian tensions in both Syria and Lebanon, home to a mosaic of sects including Sunnis, Christians, Druze and Shi’ites.

In a March 13 interview with Lebanese broadcaster MTV, Syrian Defense Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Hassan Abdel Ghani said the build-up at the border was a defensive measure. ‌There was a high level of coordination with Lebanon’s army, he said, and Sharaa supported the establishment of Lebanese state authority over Lebanon.

Last week, Syria’s army said Hezbollah artillery shells landed in a border village. Hezbollah had said it had repelled an Israeli attempt to infiltrate Lebanon from the same village. Israeli officials ​said they were unaware of any such operation. The Syrian army said it was “considering appropriate options to take the necessary actions” in response.

Published – March 18, 2026 05:55 am IST

Iran’s Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani. File | Photo credits: WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The satellite image posted by an Iranian news outlet looked real: a devastated US base in Qatar. But it was an AI-generated fake, underscoring the accelerating threat of tech-enabled disinformation during wartime.

The rise of generative AI has turbocharged the ability of state actors and propagandists to fabricate convincing satellite imagery during major conflicts, a trend that researchers warn carries real-world security implications.

Follow | Israel-Iran war LIVE

As the US-Israeli war against Iran rages, Tehran Times, a state-aligned English daily, posted on X a “before vs. after” image it claimed showed “completely destroyed” US radar equipment at a base in Qatar.

In fact it was an AI-manipulated version of a Google Earth image from last year of a US base in Bahrain, researchers said.

The subtle visual giveaways included a row of cars parked in identical positions in both the authentic satellite photo and the manipulated image.

Yet the manipulated photo garnered millions of views as it spread across social media in multiple languages, illustrating how users are increasingly failing to distinguish reality from fiction on platforms saturated with AI-generated visuals.

Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence researcher, noted an “increase in manipulated satellite imagery” appearing on social media in the wake of major events including the Middle East war.

“Many of these manipulated images have the hallmarks of imperfect AI-generation: odd angles, blurred details, and hallucinated features that don’t align with reality,” Africk told AFP.

“Others appear to be an image manipulated manually, often by superimposing indicators of damage or another change on a satellite image that had no such details to begin with,” he said.

Information warfare analyst Tal Hagin flagged another AI-generated satellite image purporting to show that Israeli-US jets had targeted the painted silhouette of an aircraft on the ground in Iran, while Tehran seemingly moved real planes elsewhere.

The telltale clues included gibberish coordinates embedded in the fake image, which spread across sites including Instagram, Threads and X.

AFP detected a SynthID, an invisible watermark meant to identify images created using Google AI.

The fabricated satellite images follow the emergence of imposter OSINT, or open-source intelligence, accounts on social media that appear to undermine the work of credible digital investigators.

“Due to the fog of war, it can be very difficult to determine the success of an adversary’s strikes. OSINT came as a solution, using public satellite imagery to circumvent the censorship” inside countries like Iran, Hagin said.

“But it’s now being preyed upon by disinformation agents,” he added.

Reports of fake satellite imagery created or edited using AI also followed the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the four-day war between India and Pakistan last year.

“Manipulated satellite imagery, like other forms of misinformation, can have real-world impacts when people act on the information they come across without verifying its authenticity,” Africk said.

“This can have effects that range from influencing public opinion on a major issue, like whether or not a country should engage in conflict, to impacting financial markets.”

In the age of AI, authentic high-resolution satellite imagery collected in real time can give decision-makers vital clues to assess security threats and debunk falsehoods from unverified sources.

During a recent militant attack on Niamey airport in Niger, satellite intelligence company Vantor said it detected images circulating online purporting to show the main civilian terminal on fire.

The company’s own satellite imagery helped confirm that the photos were fake, almost certainly generated using AI, Vantor’s Tomi Maxted told AFP.

“When a satellite image is presented as visual evidence in the context of war, it can easily influence how people interpret events,” Bo Zhao, from the University of Washington, told AFP.

As AI-generated imagery grows increasingly convincing, it is “important for the public to approach such visual content with caution and critical awareness,” Zhao said.

Published – March 09, 2026 09:04 am IST