Syrian state media reported on Tuesday night that Israel conducted an airstrike south of Damascus, reportedly killing nine pro-Iranian fighters in an area previously identified as the site of a suspected Iranian military base.
Syria’s official SANA news outlet said that the country’s air defenses intercepted two Israeli missiles over the el-Kiswah area, south of Damascus. The report did not specify how many missiles were fired.
“Nine fighters belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or pro-Iranian Shiite militias have been killed” Rami Abd el-Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
As a rule, the Israeli military does not comment on airstrikes in Syria.
The alleged strike came hours after the Israeli military said it had identified “abnormal movements of Iranian forces in Syria” and called for local governments in the Golan Heights to open their bomb shelters.
Rahman said the strike targeted an “arms depot belonging to Hezbollah and the Iranians.”
Earlier on Tuesday night, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic, in part due to Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.
As a rule, the Israeli military does not comment on airstrikes in Syria.
The alleged strike came hours after the Israeli military said it had identified “abnormal movements of Iranian forces in Syria” and called for local governments in the Golan Heights to open their bomb shelters.
Rahman said the strike targeted an “arms depot belonging to Hezbollah and the Iranians.”
Earlier on Tuesday night, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic, in part due to Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.
The al-Mayadeen news outlet, which is seen as sympathetic to Hezbollah, reported that fires had broken out in the area following the blasts.
An official with the Iran-led axis of resistance told the Associated Press the strike targeted a Syrian army position and caused only material damage. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.
Videos from the scene, which was posted on social media, showed the moment of the strike’s impact and its aftermath. Surveillance footage showed a blast of white light as the bombs hit, followed by what appeared to be secondary explosions, supporting the claim that the targets of the strike were missiles. Cellphone videos also showed trucks burning and fires raging in the direction of the alleged Iranian base.
Following the attack, Lebanese media reported that Israeli jets were flying sorties over the country’s southern coast.
In November 2017, Western intelligence officials told the BBC that Iran had established a permanent military base in el-Kiswah.
A month later, the alleged Iranian base was targeted by an airstrike, which was attributed to Israel.
President Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, following through on a campaign promise and defying European allies who implored him to maintain an agreement that international agencies have said Tehran is honoring.
In a highly anticipated address from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, Trump cast the landmark agreement forged under predecessor Barack Obama as ‘defective’ and unable to rein in Iranian behavior or halt the Islamic Republic’s quest to develop a nuclear progra
“I’m announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” he said while adding that his administration “will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction.”
Trump said the 2015 agreement, which included Germany, France, and Britain, was a “horrible one-sided deal that should never ever have been made.”
His remarks came ahead of his self-imposed May 12 deadline to walk away from the deal, which is when the president is required to renew waivers on sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program as required under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is formally called.
Trump emphasized that sanctions would also apply to other nations that did business with Iran, meaning that the United States could very well apply sanctions on its closest European allies. “America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail,” Trump said.
However, officials said European companies would have several months to pull out of the Iranian market.
Trump said that his explosive move would signal “the United States no longer makes empty threats” on the world stage. “When I make promises, I keep them,” he said.
Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said Moscow was “deeply disappointed” by US President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, a move it called a blatant violation of international law.
In a statement, the ministry lamented the move “to unilaterally refuse to carry out commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” adding that Washington’s actions were “trampling on the norms of international law.”
Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, following through on a campaign promise and defying European allies who implored him to maintain the agreement that international agencies have said Tehran is honoring.
Following the announcement, the Turkish presidency it feared Trump’s decision could open up “new conflicts.”
“The unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the nuclear deal is a decision that will cause instability and new conflicts,” said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Twitter. “Turkey will continue to resolutely oppose all types of nuclear arms.”
Turkey and Iran are striving to develop pragmatic relations with each other, particularly over Syria which borders both countries, despite a long-standing, reciprocal distrust.
In a highly anticipated address from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, Trump cast the landmark agreement forged under predecessor Barack Obama as “defective” and unable to rein in Iranian behavior or halt the Islamic Republic’s quest to develop a nuclear program.
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