Israel says it struck IRGC targets in Syria; Iran denies it

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Israeli army on Saturday said it had carried out an airstrike against Iranian forces near the Syrian capital Damascus to prevent attacks by “killer drones.” On the following day, Iran denied their units had been hit. 

“The strike targeted Iranian Quds Force operatives and Shiite militias which were preparing to advance attack plans targeting sites in Israel from within Syria over the last number of days,” Israel's military said in a statement, according to Reuters. The Quds Force is part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is responsible for the country’s extraterritorial operations.

Israel’s prime minister along with the military’s spokesperson both claimed that the base that was hit was preparing to attack their country. PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter, “Iran has no immunity anywhere. Our forces operate in every sector against the Iranian aggression.”

Syrian state media reported that Damascus’ air defense system downed most of the “hostile targets” before reaching their intended destination. Ranked IRGC member and Iranian politician Mohsen Rezaei denied on Sunday that the units had been struck in Syria.

“This is a lie and is not true,” said Rezaei, quoted by semi-official outlet ILNA. He did, however, state that “Defenders of Syria and Iraq would soon respond” to Israel’s operations. Jerusalem has said it targeted Iranian forces in Syria as they were attempting to establish a permanent military presence. They have also reportedly destroyed sophisticated arms shipments by Iran to Lebanese Hezbollah, widely recognized as a terrorist organization, including by the US and EU.

Early Sunday, two Israeli drones crashed in an area dominated by Hezbollah in southern Beirut, according to the Lebanese army.

Over the past several weeks, Israel also seems to have struck multiple Iranian targets in Iraq. PM Netanyahu has on multiple occasions hinted that Israel was behind a series of bombings against depots belonging to Iranian-backed factions within the Hashd al-Shaabi militias, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

Deputy head of the PMF, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, directly accused the United States and Israel of being the perpetrators, a charge Washington has denied. The US is an ally of Iraq in the ongoing anti-Islamic State campaign and the recent apparent Israeli attacks are likely to put Baghdad, which has powerful Iran-backed elements within the government, in a difficult position.

PMF chairman, Falih Fayyadh—who is also Iraq's National Security Advisor—said the remarks of Muhandis did not represent the PMF’s official position. 

Editing by John J. Catherine