The New York Times reports that last month’s attack on a U.S. military base in southern Syria was an Iranian retaliation for an Israeli airstrike. The publication is based on eight American and Israeli officials who spoke anonymously on the sensitive issue.
They also said that the UAV attack would be the first time that Iran aimed a military attack on the United States in response to Israel’s attack – an escalation of the shadow war between Iran and Israel, which poses new dangers to US forces.
As you may recall, five UAVs were launched at the U.S. base on October 20, in what the U.S. Central Command called a “deliberate and coordinated” attack. Only two of the drones exploded in the hit. A senior U.S. military official said they were loaded with bullets with a “clear intent to kill.”
The American soldiers stationed at the base were evacuated hours earlier, thanks to information from Israeli intelligence.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the allegations
At the same time, a Pentagon spokesman refused to publicly accuse Iran, in part of avoiding hitting nuclear talks, which are set to resume later this month. Iran, for its part, has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
“There have been several cases in which Iran has been accused without any proof or documents,” Said Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference last week. He added: “Countries that have established military bases in Syria without the invitation of Syria’s central government, in addition to continuing terrorist policies and supporting terrorist policies, are the real root of the instability in the region.”
The Telegram channel, run by branches of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, said the attack was a response to the United States, which allowed Israeli attacks on “resistance” forces in eastern Syria.
“Iranians are not happy to attack Israel”
The New York Times reported on recent airstrikes in Syria and reported that on October 8, Israel fired missiles at an air base in central Syria, which, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, serves as an Iranian military headquarters. An attack on October 13 against Iranian military targets near the cities of Palmyra and Homs was also attributed to Israel. In the attack, three pro-Iranian militias and a Syrian soldier were killed. Finally, it was reported that on October 16, an Israeli shot at Mhatat Saleh, a senior Syrian official who, according to Israeli intelligence, was working with Iran to establish military infrastructure along the border for the purpose of attacking Israel.
An American source said that the Iranians were not happy to attack Israel for fear of retaliation, so they chose to beat the Americans. He further said that the Iranians took a risk that if American soldiers were killed the US military would respond. Two senior U.S. officials said Iran may have believed the UAV attack would be seen as an initiative of militias and not Iran.
U.S. officials added that the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Syria strongly supported the evacuation of the United States from Iraq and Syria, but officials said it was unclear how much Iranian leaders agreed with that approach.
The US response has been to announce new sanctions against two senior Revolutionary Guards officials, two other Iranians and two companies that the United States claims are linked to the Guards’ drone program.