Fearing IDF reprisals, Iranian-led alliance attacks U.S. forces instead of Israeli targets, according to new report.
By World Israel News Staff
Iranian-backed forces in Syria attacked a base housing U.S. forces in retaliation for a series of Israeli air strikes, according to a report by The New York Times.
Citing senior U.S. officials and a source in Damascus, the report claimed that Iran directed the attack against American forces in Syria, rather than towards Israeli targets, fearing a possible escalation with Israel.
On Sunday August 14th, a series of air strikes attributed to the Israeli military killed three soldiers and left three more wounded.
The Syrian army said the IDF targeted several positions in the coastal province of Tartus and suburbs of the capital Damascus.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the Israeli strike targeted a Syrian army air defense base in the area of Abu Afsa. It added that Iran-backed fighters are usually housed at the base.
A day later, drones launched by pro-Iran militias attacked the al-Tanf base in Syria, where U.S. forces are deployed.
U.S. Central Command said the assault caused “zero casualties and no damage.”
American forces retaliated two days later, killing six combatants, including Syrian soldiers and foreign militants at the Ayash Camp, a facility run by the Afghani Shi’ite group Fatimiyoun.
The attack on the al-Tanf base came following a virtual meeting of Iranian officials and Iran’s allies including Syria, Hezbollah, and Iran-backed militias in Yemen and Iraq.
Gheis Ghoreishi, an analyst aligned with the Iranian government, reported on the meeting.
“Iran’s strategic patience has ended and from now on it will be answering attacks with attacks,” Ghoreishi said.
An official cited by the Times report claimed that during the virtual meeting, representatives of the Assad regime pressed Iran not to attack Israel following the August 14th strikes, fearing a wider conflict with the Jewish state.
Iran reportedly accepted the request, using its proxies in the region to target American forces in Syria, rather than Israel.