Tehran warns US of 'swift' response to attacks on Iran bases in Syria
Spokesperson of Iran's top security council says that the Islamic Republic has suffered alot fighting terrorist groups in Syria and will not allow any action that endangers stability there.
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US occupation soldiers fold a flag after returning from patrol on May 25, 2021, in northeastern Syria. (AFP)
Iran warned on Saturday that it will respond quickly and decisively to any attack carried out by the United States targeted on any of its legitimate bases in Syria.
The spokesperson of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Kayvan Khosravi, said that "any pretext for attacking the bases created at the request of the Syrian government to fight with terrorism and ISIL operatives in that country will be immediately met with a reciprocal response."
Khosravi stressed that countries occupied by the US have a legal and natural right to confront its forces, and Washington cannot blame these acts on third countries through lies and fabrications.
"Iran has suffered a lot in the battle against foreign-backed terrorism to reestablish durable security in Syria, and it opposes any action that endangers the stability of that country," the Iranian official said.
"The United States role in creating and supporting ISIL as a proxy in line with its political objectives in Syria and Iraq is evident to everyone, and in the past two days, American helicopters with several sorties have transferred ISIL terrorists in Syria with the aim of increasing instability in the country, something that they have to be held to account for," he added.
US under fire in Syria
Several rockets and drones targeted on Friday US occupation bases in the Conoco gas field and Al-Omar oil field east of Deir Ezzor, Eastern Syria.
US helicopters went airborne after the attack over the US Conoco gas fields, east of the Euphrates river, while American fighter jets and artillery responded to the launching positions.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) admitted on Friday that ten rockets targeted coalition forces at the Mission Support Site Green Village compound in northeast Syria, while US officials said one US soldier was wounded.
On Thursday, a drone attack on a US occupation base in eastern Syria led to the killing of one US military contractor and the wounding of seven troops. The Defense Department said the US military responded with "precision airstrikes" in eastern Syria.
Following the attacks, the United States opened an investigation into the reason why its air defense system was not fully operational during the drone strike.
🚨 انفجارات تدوي في القاعدة الأمريكية في حقل العمر النفطي شرق دير الزور، جراء قصف صاروخي عنيف منذ قليل. pic.twitter.com/AchkGVeBC9
— SAM 🇸🇾 (@SAMSyria0) March 24, 2023
Following the heavy confrontations, American President Joe Biden said during a press conference that the US will "act forcefully" to protect Americans, but later added that Washington "does not seek conflict with Iran."
He claimed that the US military aggression was carried out in response to an attack by Iran-backed groups on US troops in a military base in eastern Syria.
The US military occupies parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo, and Deir Ezzor, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located. The Syrian government has repeatedly called the US military presence in the provinces an occupation aimed at plundering the country's oil.
The US has for long employed the alleged "ISIS threat" as a pretext to continue its illegal occupation of northeastern Syrian territories, including parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo, and Deir Ezzor, frequently looting oil and gas from Syrian fields and transporting them to other occupation bases in Iraq via illegal crossings.
