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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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February 28, 2018
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Iran
Building Another Syrian Base to Target Israel
by IPT News • Feb 28, 2018 at
11:19 am
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Iran has constructed another military base in Syria with the ability to
host missiles that can strike any part of Israel, according to ImageSat
International satellite images obtained exclusively by Fox News.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) al-Quds Force reportedly
operates the base, which is located outside of the Syrian capital Damascus.
Iran already oversees a military compound near the Damascus airport and
other high-profile airbases and permanent military sites across the country.
The United States and Israel are very concerned about Iran's ongoing
efforts to consolidate permanent operating bases in Syria. Since
intervening in that country's civil war in 2011, the Islamic Republic has
been working to cement a land bridge from Tehran to Beirut through Syria.
Earlier this month, Israel shot down an Iranian drone that infiltrated Israel's airspace. Israeli jets
subsequently bombed several military targets in Syria, including some under
Iranian control. In the process, Syrian air defenses downed an Israeli jet – the first time an Israeli
military aircraft had been taken out by enemy fire since the 1980s.
This escalation marks the first direct confrontation between Israeli and
Iranian forces. Iran may have deployed the drone to conduct surveillance or
to test Israel's air defenses and provoke an Israeli response. Regardless
of the primary motivation, the incident shows that Iran is increasingly
emboldened and willing to use Syria as a base to challenge Israel directly.
Israel has set red lines throughout the Syrian civil war, focused
on preventing "game-changing" weapons from landing in Hizballah's
hands and a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria. Israel leaders
understand that it cannot remove Iranian forces from its borders alone and
have engaged in diplomatic initiatives with the United States and Russia to
negotiate a potential buffer zone free of an Iranian presence.
In the meantime, Iran is ignoring these understandings and continues to
expand its reach in an effort to open another front against Israel in a future war. The
latest military base outside Damascus is yet another example of Iran
encroaching on Israel's borders.
With the downfall of the Islamic State as a military force in Syria,
Iran and its proxies – including Hizballah and other Shi'a militias – are now focusing their efforts on the
destruction of the Jewish state.
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