Iran’s Quds Force commander accuses Israel, US of supporting Islamic State

Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Esmail Ghaani makes surprise visit to Syria, slams America and Israel, and the location he was thought to be in was then reportedly bombed.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

The head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused Israel and America of backing Islamic terror during a surprise visit to Syria shortly before the area he visited was bombed, news sources reported Sunday.

The Iranian Tasnim news agency reported Maj. Gen. Esmail Ghaani visited the Syrian town of Abu Kamal on the Syria-Iraq border, but shortly afterwards deleted the news item, Radio Free Europe reported.

Iranian news agencies then quoted a report from Iran’s Al-Alam television that during his visit Ghaani lashed out at Israel and the U.S., accusing them of helping Islamic terrorists in Syria’s ongoing civil war.

“The United States and the Zionist regime are supporters of ISIS, and for this reason it can be said with certainty that their conspiracy is not over,” Ghaani said, going on to poke the Americans in the eye with a comment that the social unrest happening in the U.S. was reflective of American policy abroad.

“It is natural that the U.S. government abuses the nations of the world when it oppresses and treats its own people with savagery,” Ghaani added.

Several hours after the Iranian reports, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in London said airstrikes were carried out on Abu Kamal, RFE reported. There were no confirmations by any other sources.

In his comments in Syria, Ghaani also said the Iranians “will continue the path of the martyrs, especially the path of martyr Soleimani.”

Ghaani’s predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated in an airstrike by a U.S. drone in January. President Trump called Soleimani “the number one terrorist in the world.”

For the U.S. and Israel, Soleimani was a shadowy figure in command of Iran’s proxy forces, responsible for fighters in Syria backing President Bashar Assad and for the deaths of American troops in Iraq.