Iran’s Guards Use Aerial Guided-Missile Attacks to Back Regime Troops in Syria

Parading a drone in Iran. (Photo: Reuters)
Parading a drone in Iran. (Photo: Reuters)
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Iran’s Guards Use Aerial Guided-Missile Attacks to Back Regime Troops in Syria

Parading a drone in Iran. (Photo: Reuters)
Parading a drone in Iran. (Photo: Reuters)

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard had single-handedly introduced a new weapon when taking up arms side by side by Syria’s regime against ISIS in the Badia region.

Air-launched guided missile activity was registered--meanwhile, ISIS militiamen rebelled against commandership orders to implement the deal brokered with regime forces and withdraw from Hama’s eastern rural zone.

ISIS militants were given an order to exit Hama to Idlib.

A video clip broadcasted on Iran's Alalam News Network showed aircraft carrying guided missiles and said they belonged to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Missiles targeted Badia posts in Syria, without specifying any locations. Other Iranian outlets reported that the attacks took place near the Syrian-Iraqi border and destroyed vehicles, military equipment, and ammunition.

Syrian opposition sources based in Deir al-Zour said that Iranian aircraft hovered over south-eastern Damascus countryside reaching all the way to the west of Abu Kamal area in Deir al-Zor border with Iraq.

Iranian aerial activity in the area near Deir al-Zour is recent -- usually, surveillance aircraft belong to Syrian regime forces and Russian air fleets, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Tehran had insisted on openly broadcasting employing new weapons in Syria.

In parallel to the launch of short-range missiles from Iran to the Deir al-Zour area last summer, Tehran announced the launch of drones nearby coalition forces present at the US occupied al-Tanf base in Syria but did not announce the use of guided missiles launched by aircraft already running.

The video showed two simultaneous images of the missile's trajectory: the first taken from a camera installed in the front, the second from a reconnaissance aircraft. Among hit targets was a tank, which means that the guided missiles are anti-armor.

On that note, the US military destroyed an Iranian reconnaissance plane that tried to approach the Al-Tanf camp.

Al-Tanf military base is used by the Washington-led coalition to train rebels belonging to the "Free Syrian Army" to fight against ISIS terrorists centered near the Syrian-Iraqi border.



South Korea's Yoon Resists Questioning by Lying in Underwear

South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol resisted prosecutors' attempts to interrogate him by lying down on the floor in his underwear. KIM HONG-JI / POOL/AFP
South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol resisted prosecutors' attempts to interrogate him by lying down on the floor in his underwear. KIM HONG-JI / POOL/AFP
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South Korea's Yoon Resists Questioning by Lying in Underwear

South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol resisted prosecutors' attempts to interrogate him by lying down on the floor in his underwear. KIM HONG-JI / POOL/AFP
South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol resisted prosecutors' attempts to interrogate him by lying down on the floor in his underwear. KIM HONG-JI / POOL/AFP

South Korea's impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol lay on his prison cell floor in his underwear to resist attempts to interrogate him, prosecutors said Friday.

Prosecutors obtained a fresh arrest warrant on Thursday to forcibly bring the former leader in for questioning over allegations of election tampering.

However, they were "unable to do so due to his strong refusal", prosecutor Oh Jeong-hee told reporters.

"The suspect refused arrest while lying on the floor without wearing his prison-issued clothing," she said.

"Due to concerns over safety incidents, physical force was withheld, and the execution of the warrant was temporarily suspended”.

Yoon was wearing "a sleeveless top and prison-issued briefs," prosecutors said, calling it the "most appropriate way" to describe his attire given the "serious nature of the situation".

There was no information on the color of his underclothing, they added.

Prosecutors informed Yoon they would have to carry out physical force if necessary in the next attempt, said AFP.

Yoon was arrested after he tried to impose martial law on December 3, sending troops to parliament to prevent lawmakers from voting down his declaration and plunging the country into political turmoil.

He faces a litany of charges, from insurrection to election tampering, but has refused multiple times to appear at his summons.

Yoon's legal team said the prosecutors had shown a "disturbing disregard" for "basic human decency".

"The special counsel turned what should have been a press briefing into a stage for personal humiliation," Yoon's lawyer Yoo Jeong-hwa told AFP.

"What kind of legal institution in a civilized country gives a real-time report and commentary to journalists on a detainee's clothing, especially in a cramped cell nearing 40 degrees (Celsius) (104 degrees Fahrenheit)?"

Yoon's lawyers said the former president suffers from "several underlying conditions that pose significant challenges to maintaining his health", making it difficult for him to fully cooperate with the investigation.