Israel: Iran is building its bases in Syria to maintain the presence of its militias

In the first Israeli comment on the American strike, a senior Israeli military intelligence officer said: “Iran is building bases for it in weak countries like Syria, not with the aim of protecting the Assad regime, but rather to preserve the presence of its militias there.”

The officer added that there are 4 Iranian goals in Syria, which are: “Building strategic military capabilities and storing combat means, especially in Deir Ezzor, Albu Kamal and Palmyra, in addition to economic goals, especially the return of the money that Iran has spent in Syria in recent years, and finally Shiism and export
The Iranian Revolution to Syria ”.

He pointed, hours before the US strike that targeted Iranian forces in Syria, to Iran’s efforts to build bases on the border between Iraq and Syria to enhance its military capabilities and introduce armed militias from foreign countries.

And a spokesman for the US Defense Department, John Kirby, confirmed that the US military launched, under the direction of President Joe Biden, on Thursday evening, air strikes targeting infrastructure, used by Iranian-backed armed militias, in eastern Syria.

He stressed that the raid sent an “unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect US and coalition personnel.” Kirby added in a statement that these strikes were approved in response to recent attacks against US and coalition forces in Iraq, and to the ongoing threats they are exposed to.

He revealed that the strikes destroyed several facilities located at a border control point used by a number of armed militias backed by Iran, including the “Hezbollah Brigades” and “the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades.”