Iran Strikes US Military Base in Syria in Retaliation for Attacks

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it has struck the Al-Tanf military base in Syria, describing the operation as retaliation for the deaths of Iranian soldiers in recent US attacks on the city of Iranshahr.

According to a statement carried by Iran’s Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said its aerospace forces destroyed radar systems and several special operations helicopters during the attack in Syria, killing a large number of what it termed “criminal American forces.” The IRGC described the action as retribution for the killing of “martyred soldiers” in the earlier strike on Iranshahr.

The Al-Tanf base was formerly a US special operations command centre located in the tri-border area of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. The US military stated in February that it had completed its withdrawal of forces from Al-Tanf, and the Syrian government said it had taken over the vacated base. There has been no immediate comment from the Syrian government or the US military regarding the latest incident.

Previously, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that “US forces, including fighter jets, aerial drones, and warships, launched precision munitions striking dozens of Iranian military targets, such as coastal surveillance and air defence sites, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime capabilities.” Iranian media reported that five bridges were hit in the latest US strikes, along with a railway station in the coastal city of Bandar Khamir and Iranshahr Airport in southeastern Iran. The Fars news agency reported that seven people were killed in the US strike on a bridge in Bandar Khamir. Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said the barrage of US attacks has killed at least 30 people in Iran since last week.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa had previously stated in March at a Chatham House event in London that his country intended to remain outside regional conflicts, “unless Syria is targeted by any party.”