‘IRANIAN GENERAL’S PRESENCE IN SYRIA TRIGGERED IAF DAYTIME STRIKES’

‘IRANIAN GENERAL’S PRESENCE IN SYRIA TRIGGERED IAF DAYTIME STRIKES’

‘IRANIAN GENERAL’S PRESENCE IN SYRIA TRIGGERED IAF DAYTIME STRIKES’

Iran’s commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, was less than an hour’s drive away from Israel’s border on Friday, according to a report by Kuwaiti paper al-Jarida.

‘IRANIAN GENERAL’S PRESENCE IN SYRIA TRIGGERED IAF DAYTIME STRIKES’
‘IRANIAN GENERAL’S PRESENCE IN SYRIA TRIGGERED IAF DAYTIME STRIKES’

This visit, the report claimed, is what triggered Israel’s rare daytime strikes on Iranian targets in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport on Sunday. This, in turn, led to Iranian forces launching a surface-to-surface missile toward northern Israel an hour later.

Quoting a source, the report said that Soleimani – one of the most prominent and influential military figures in Iran – visited eastern al-Ghariyah in the Deraa province less than 40 km. from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. According to the source, Soleimani’s visit to a home in the area between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. was monitored by intelligence officials.

“Soleimani’s visit to a location less than 40 km. from the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights violated a previous US-Russian-Israeli agreement” regarding the Iranian presence in the war-torn country, the report said.

Israel has worked closely with the United States and Russia to try to get Iranian and Hezbollah forces to leave Syria, where they have been fighting alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad, since the civil war began there in March 2011.

While there has been a reduction of Iranian and Hezbollah fighters in Syria’s Golan Heights, “the possibility of opening the Golan front against Israel in the event of an attack on its territory” remains an option for Soleimani. He has told the Russians that Iran would not comply with any redlines set by the Jewish state, according to the report.

The report also claimed that the Russians had notified the Iranians 30 minutes in advance of which targets Israel would attack, adding: “The Iranians managed to evacuate the areas and minimize the damage.”

Moscow intervened in the Syrian conflict in September 2015 on behalf of Assad. Israel and Russia have been using a deconfliction mechanism in place over Syria in order to avoid any unwanted conflict.

Read More: The Jerusalem Post

Iran Briefing | News Press Focus on Human Rights Violation by IRGC, Iran Human Rights

Latest news
Related news