SOHR: Israel Destroyed 270 ‘Iranian Targets’ in Syria in 32 Months

SOHR: Israel Destroyed 270 ‘Iranian Targets’ in Syria in 32 Months
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SOHR: Israel Destroyed 270 ‘Iranian Targets’ in Syria in 32 Months

SOHR: Israel Destroyed 270 ‘Iranian Targets’ in Syria in 32 Months

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Israeli airstrikes on ‘Iranian sites’ in Syria for the past 32 months have caused the destruction of 270 targets and the death of around 500 Iranian forces and affiliated militias.

A total of 79 Israeli airstrikes targeted Syria between early 2018 and the start of September, destroying 250 targets, including weapons depots, buildings, and military headquarters, SOHR reported on Wednesday.

The airstrikes killed 509 individuals as follows: 12 citizens (including three women and three children), and 497 members from regime and affiliated armed groups including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iranian forces.

The 497 members were distributed as follows: 63 regime members, 35 pro-regime armed forces, 228 from Hezbollah and 171 Iranian forces and the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Israeli airstrikes have escalated since 2018. SOHR documented a minimum of 26 targets belonging to the regime and Iranian forces and their loyal militias of Syrian nationals and foreigners.

SOHR documented at least 23 airstrikes in 2019 with 10 targeting Damascus and its countryside, seven in Qunaitra, two in Deir Ezzor and each in Homs, Aleppo, Hama, Suwayda and Daraa.

The first nine months of 2020 were an indicator that Israel insists on fighting the Iranian presence in Syria.

This year, a minimum of 30 airstrikes were monitored as follows: 11 in Deir Ezzor, seven in Homs, six in Damascus and its countryside, three in Daraa, two in Qunaitra and Hama, and one in Aleppo.

At least 161 people, mostly Iranian forces and their loyal militias of Syrians and foreigners, were killed in the Israeli attacks since the beginning of 2020.



White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump's team on the risk.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel's assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
"It's no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, 'Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now ... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine'," Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with US ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran's oil industry. Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran's "weakened state."
"Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran's nuclear ambitions for the long term," he said.