The Syrian regime and Iran-backed militias have been delaying a mandated handover of weapons, military equipment and vehicles that were seized by the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) in 2014 to Iraq, military officials said.

ISIS looted Iraqi military bases when it overran swathes of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, and later transferred some of these weapons into Syria.

These items were later taken as spoils of war by the Syrian regime and allied militias following the defeat of ISIS.

Iraq has been demanding the return of military equipment and weapons for more than a year, a senior official at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense told Diyaruna.

"The equipment and weapons were fairly new and cost Iraq enormous amounts of money to purchase as part of the programme to arm and train the Iraqi army," he said.

Under international law, such equipment and weapons must be treated as stolen property, he said, so the party that ultimately comes into possession of them must hand them over to the rightful owner.

"But the Syrian regime is stalling and playing games while [IRGC] affiliated militias are outright refusing to hand them over," the military official said.

The Iraqi parliament is preparing to address this issue, as these items are Iraqi property, said Iraqi MP Abbas Sarout al-Ismaili, who serves on the parliamentary security and defence committee.

Iraqi equipment in Syria

Brig. Gen. Muhammad al-Jubouri, who was a member of the Ninawa Operations Command that liberated Mosul in 2016 and is now retired from the Iraqi forces, told Diyaruna there is a vast amount of Iraqi equipment in Syria.

The Iraqi weapons held by the Syrian regime are enough to arm an entire Iraqi army division, he said.

When ISIS seized al-Ghazlani military base in Mosul in mid-2014, it moved its contents across the border to Deir Ezzor, al-Raqa and Albu Kamal, as well as other areas in Syria, he said.

After the defeat of ISIS, the equipment was divided between the Syrian regime and the various Iranian and Afghan militias supporting it, and even Lebanese Hizbullah got hold of some of it, he said.

"The Syrian regime believes these weapons and equipment now belong to it, as it does the smuggled oil and antiquities and other Iraqi assets," he said.

The Syrian regime also has intelligence information on Iraqi ISIS elements, but the Iraqi government has not been receiving any co-operation in this regard from the al-Assad regime, security expert Fouad Ali said.

Ali attributed this to the Syrian regime's desire to deal with Iraq by way of Iran, which enables it to continue to benefit indirectly from Iraqi resources.