Iran's Growing Influence in Syria Sparks Concern
While Russian and Iranian-backed Bashar al-Assad's regime is consolidating its grip on most areas once controlled by various rebel groups in Syria, Iran's involvement and military footprints in the country have some experts and U.S. lawmakers concerned that Tehran might be in the process of establishing long-term presence in Syria in an effort to project regional power in the long term.
Dozens reportedly killed in new attacks on Iran/Syria bases ·
Explosion at largest #Iranian base in #Syria 38 of #Iran’s #IRGC #Quds Force members killed in #rocket #attack in #Syria
Sources are providing first footage of this attack
PMOI/MEK, April, 30,2018-- Bases linked to Syrian army and Iranian forces stationed in the cities of Hama and Aleppo have been targeted in a rocket/missile attack staged at 10:30 pm Sunday night local time, according to various news outlets.Syrian TV is reporting several explosions have been heard near Hama and Aleppo.Forces linked to the Iranian regime and Assad’s military near the Nairab military airport & the Aleppo Int'l Airport, east of the city have also been targeted.The hardline Asr-e Iran website reported that a rocket/missiles strike left 40 killed and 60 others wounded. It is said 18 Iranians have been killed. Other Iranian websites and news agencies also reported the strike, but most of them including Iranian Student News Agency, ISNA, and Asr-e Iran retracted only the number of Iranian mercenaries killed in this attack, fearing demoralization amongst regime forces.
Strike On Syria Serves As Warning To Iran Regime
NCRI, 19 April 2018-- When former United States President Barack Obama was in office, he was very reluctant to take decisive action with regards to the conflict in Syria. He was very conscious of doing anything that could adversely affect a potential nuclear deal with Iran. The nuclear deal was Obama’s way of ensuring his legacy, but unfortunately, he put too much effort into getting Iran to sign the deal and not enough effort into making it a strong one.
For many years, he appeased the Iranian regime and he even put his own red lines regarding chemical weapons to one side.
Before taking office, Donald Trump heavily criticised Obama and his soft approach to Iran. He also criticised the nuclear deal and vowed to take firm and decisive action again the Iran threat that goes beyond nuclear ambitions.
Mullahs' Army Commander Admits To Iran Regime's Role In Syrian Slaughter, Whines Over MEK Revelations
NCRI - on April 18th, Rouhani the president of the Mullahs’ regime admitted violating the United Nations Security Council resolutions and said: "We are declaring to the world that we will produce or procure any weapons we need and we have never been, are not and will not wait for their words, their agreements or their affirmative views.
Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander of the Khamenei’s Army, in a speech on the occasion of the army's day confessed that, the regime’s army was enormously involved in massacre of the Syrian people, and stated: the role of the army in defending the holy shrines ( Iranian regime’s devious pretext for meddling in Syria) is an exciting narrative that would be properly recounted at the appropriate time,” it is notable that Mousavi is loyal to Khamenei and plays an active role in purging the army from dissident personnel and suppressing them
How Will Iran Respond To The Syria Attacks?
We can consider the April 14th airstrikes against the Syrian regime’s chemical infrastructure as a point of no return in regards to this country’s future developments. For many years Bashar Assad and Iran were able to take the utmost advantage of the Obama administration’s policy of appeasement, and thus pave the path for Russia’s entrance into the Middle East. The main victims have been directly the peoples of Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other regional states.
April 15, 2018 - 'Bases and areas belonging to the Hezbollah were among targets of the US attack on Syria. The Syrian army ammunition depot, 15 miles from the center of Homs, were bombed by 4 British jets,' the IRGC news agency, Fars reported
Military bases belonging to the president's guards corps and the Syrian army's 4th division in the vicinity of Damascus, responsible for the capital's protection, were also targeted.
'100 cruise missiles were fired at Asad's centers and military bases,' reported Fox News.
Russia's Department of Defense announced that none of the US airplanes entered Russia's air space, reported the Russian TAS news agency.
Arab leaders call for probe into Syria chemical attacks, condemn Iran
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters)APRIL 15, 2018 - Arab League leaders on Sunday called for an international probe into the “criminal” use of chemical weapons in Syria and condemned what they see as Iran’s interference in the affairs of other countries.
Regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran have for decades been locked in a struggle for supremacy that is now being played out in proxy wars in several countries, including Yemen and Syria.
Huge blast' at Iranian military base in Aleppo after 'fighter jet attack'
Express, Apr 14, 2018 - A huge blast was heard near an Iranian military base in Syria this evening, amid unconfirmed reports it was attacked by unidentified aircraft.
The base was in the Jabal Azzan region south of Aleppo, a Syrian government-controlled rural region.
People claimed to have seen explosions at the site.
There are reports from Syrian media it was attacked by Israeli aircraft.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported the blast but said the cause was unknown.
Iran allows Russia to use airbase for refueling
Anadolu Agency-15 April 2018 - Tehran- Iran has agreed to let Russian bombers use an airbase in Hamedan state for refueling, an editor at Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency claimed, Anadolu Agency reported.
Hossein Dalirian, the director of Tasnim’s defense desk, wrote on his Twitter account that Iranian officials have agreed to let Russian long-range bombers use Iranian airspace and to land at Nojeh airbase in Hamedan state for refueling upon Moscow’s request.
Destruction Of Syrian Dictator's Chemical Facilities Is An Indispensable Step To End The Tragedy In Syria It must be complemented by total expulsion of Iran’s IRGC and its mercenaries from all over the region
The targeting of the production and maintenance centers and facilities of the deadly chemical weapons of the brutal dictator of Syria and the dismantling of the war machine of this regime is an indispensable step to end the historical catastrophe of Syria that for seven years has killed more than 500,000 innocent and defenseless children and women and men, has displaced half of the country's population, and its scope has been stretched far beyond the borders of this country.
This action, which is urgently required by all the people and freedom-lovers in Syria and other countries in the region, must be completed by expelling the anti-human mullahs’ regime and its Revolutionary Guards and mercenaries from Syria, Yemen, Iraq and other countries of the region. The mullahs’ regime is the main source of survival of Bashar al-Assad and the main source of terrorism and extremism and warfare in the Middle East and the vast sections of the world.
Al Arabiya, 12 April 2018 - A video surfaced of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s top adviser for international affairs, Akbar Ali Velayati, in Syria’s Ghouta on Wednesday getting a report on the developments of the war-stricken area from an Assad military official.
Iranian media outlets reported that Velayati visited a military site in eastern Ghouta and spoke to military officers about the operations that took place there.
Iran’s Khabaronline news agency posted the video on their Twitter account showing the advisor in a military zone.
West must not ignore Iran’s role in Syria atrocities
DR. MAJID RAFIZADEH
Arab News, 12 April 2018 - The number of shell attacks, airstrikes and bombings has escalated in Syria in the last few months, particularly in the suburbs of Damascus. The most recent incident included a chemical attack on the city of Douma, where many civilians choked to death. The deaths of women and children were confirmed by medical personnel and rescue groups.
The attack appears to be part of a larger operation and a months-long offensive by the Syrian regime to retake Eastern Ghouta. So far, more than 1,600 people have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced to flee, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
MARYAM RAJAVI CONDEMNS THE CHEMICAL BOMBING IN SYRIA, CALLS FOR FIRM INTERNATIONAL ACTION
Maryam Rajavi condemns the chemical bombing in Syria, calls for firm international action
Maryam Rajavi strongly condemned the criminal chemical attack on Douma in Eastern Ghouta and the ruthless killing of innocent children and women.
She said, “The Iranian regime is the main perpetrator of war and killings in Syria and the source of crimes such as the chemical bombing of Douma, which hurt the conscience of humanity.”
Maryam Rajavi expressed her most sincere condolences and sympathies to the people of Syria, especially the blood-drenched Douma. She hailed their historical perseverance and said, “The world must take firm action to stop these war crimes against the people of Syria.”
Maryam Rajavi added, “The masterminds of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria, namely Assad and his master, Ali Khamenei, must be brought before justice. Failure to take action is shameful and paves the way for continuation of such crimes.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 8, 2018
Crime Against Humanity in Eastern Ghouta by the Mullahs’ Regime
Call for urgent international action to expel IRGC from Syria
The mullahs' regime is continuing its criminal attacks and killings against the people in Eastern Ghouta of Syria in violation of the UN Security Council resolution 2401, which was ratified unanimously on February 24. These attacks are a clear example of crime against humanity and war crime.
Following the ratification of the Security Council resolution that sets a 30-day ceasefire, Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the mullahs’ regime, announced impudently on February 25 that the resolution does not include the Eastern Ghouta. Once again, it was proved that the mullahs’ regime does not respect any international rule and law, and that the war in Syria is so vital for this medieval regime.
In the February 25 attacks, carried out the day after the resolution was approved, Chlorine Gas was used in attacks on Eastern Ghouta that has left many victims, including children.
Condemning the terrible crimes in the Eastern Ghouta, whose horrific scenes have shocked the conscience of contemporary humanity, and expressing sympathy with the Syrian people, the Iranian Resistance calls on the international community to take urgent action to stop the crime against humanity and war crimes in Syria, and to expel the IRGC and their mercenary militias. This is the only way to achieve peace and tranquility in the region and necessary to combat terrorism in today's world.
Iranian military chief of staff: Assad and Iran will continue assault on Ghouta
Orient Net, 25 February 2018-- Iranian military chief of staff said Iran and Assad regime will continue attacks on Eastern Ghouta, according to Reuters, but will respect a UN resolution demanding a 30-day truce elsewhere across Syria.
The Iranian official claimed that opposition-held areas in Rural Damascus “are not covered by the ceasefire and clean-up (operations) will continue there,” the semi-official news agency Tasnim quoted General Mohammad Baqeri as saying.
Assad militias, however, targeted on Sunday (Feb. 250 opposition-held areas not only in Eastern Ghouta but also in Hama province, according to our correspondents.
Tehran’s military engagement in and economic assistance to Syria provokes significant angry responses from ordinary Iranians. They want living standards to improve in Iran rather than for public funds to be used to support the country’s regional allies. Increasingly, commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also express anger at Iran’s meagre return on its investment in Syria.
Syria, Russia, Iran Conduct Full-On Mass Extermination of Civilians in Eastern Ghouta
Breitbart, Feb. 24, 2018 - Western leaders are expressing horror at the siege of Eastern Ghouta in Syria, which is amounting to mass extermination of innocent civilians, potentially including tens of thousands of innocent women and children. The siege and the mass extermination are being led by Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and backed by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei. All three of these people – al-Assad, Putin and Khamenei – are massively committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and all three should be condemned as the worst kinds of war criminals, the worst war criminals so far this century.
NCRI - Hundreds of people, mostly children, died in a direct strike on the rebel-held area of eastern Ghouta, in Syria, on Tuesday.
It is just the latest horrific atrocity by Bashar Assad and his Iranian and Russian allies in the brutal civil war that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, forced over five million people to flee the country, and displaced over six million.
This war has long been criticised by those in the West, but make no mistake: the fighting will not stop until Iran and Russia stop supplying Syria with weapons and troops to aid in the war.
So far, the United Nations hasn’t even been able to impose meaningful sanctions on the Syrian Regime, because Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has vetoed them seven times.
But let’s concentrate for a minute on Iran, a country that is most defiantly not a permanent member of the UNSC.
Iranian Justice Minister Alireza Avayi has been invited to address the UN Human Rights Council next week.The idea that any Iranian official should address the UHNRC while their government participates in the Syrian massacre is disgusting, but that it is Avayi is ten times worse.
Iran’s human rights record is one of the world’s worst, according to independent human rights organizations and the UN itself, including executions for minor offences (drug possession), cruel and unusual punishments (floggings, binding, amputations, and stoning), routine discrimination against women and minorities.
Avayi's personal human rights record is even worse. Although he is the justice minister, Avayi has been accused by the European Union of gross human rights abuses while head of the Tehran judiciary, but unbelievably the tale gets worse.
He sat on one of the death commissions that helped execute more than 30,000 political prisoners, mainly members of the opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in the 1988 massacre.
Linda Chavez, the chairwoman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, wrote: “If we want to stop the bloodshed in Syria and the entire region, we must do more to prevent Assad's enablers. As long as Russia and Iran provide weapons, military forces and financial support to Assad, children and other innocent civilians will continue to die. Stopping the flow of money, arms and fighters to the region might be difficult, but some measures should be easy: Do not allow those involved in mass murder to address a UN gathering whose whole purpose is to protect human rights.”
Iran Resistance Throws Support Behind Syrian People
The President-elect of the Iranian Resistance has offered her “heartfelt condolences” to the people of Syria after the devastating bombardment by the Syrian Regime on a rebel-held Damascus suburb that killed at least 200 people, including many children.
Maryam Rajavi tweeted her support of the Syrian Resistance, who are working to free their country from an oppressive regime just as the Iranian Resistance does, and implored the international community to act.
Rajavi wrote: “The International Community must take serious measures to react to the crimes of [the Bashar] Assad dictatorship and [those of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei and end the eight-year pain and suffering of the people of Syria.”
The Iranian Regime is supporting the Syrian Regime in their war against their own people, because both rulers know that the biggest threat to their continued region is a democratic, popular people’s resistance.
The horrific attack in Damascus has resulted in the biggest loss of life in a single day in the Syrian Civil War for three years, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Five medical facilities in the area were also damaged and several medical workers were killed.
Panos Moumtzis, the United Nations regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, said: “Such targeting of innocent civilians and infrastructure must stop now.”
He called on all parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, which includes protecting civilians from harm.
He said: “The humanitarian situation of civilians in East Ghouta is spiralling out of control. It’s imperative to end this senseless human suffering now.”
Some members of the Regime have even taken to the internet to brag about this mass murder of children, like Brigadier General Suheil al-Hassan, leader of the Syrian Regime’s Tiger Force, who said that he wanted to teach the rebels “a lesson, in combat and in the fire”.
There was no advance warning about the attack or any attempt to evacuate civilians.
Now, the Syrian Civil War, which many believed to be dying down, appears to be entering a new phase with greater potential for military engagements between the countries in support of Assad (Iran, Russia) and those opposed (the United States, Turkey).
At the same time as this attack, there was also an advance on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin by Iran-backed militias flying Syrian government flags, but this was halted after Turkey fired an artillery barrage at the advancing militia forces.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported that he had also spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday to negotiate the safe passage home of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Russia says it has 'tested' more than 200 new weapons in Syria
The New Arab, 23 February 2018 - Syrian towns and cities have become a testing ground for the latest Russian military technology, a lawmaker said Thursday.
Former Russian commander, now MP, Vladimir Shamanov told parliament that more than 200 new weapons - developed by Moscow scientists - have been tried out in Syria during the country's seven-year war, which has cost over half-a-million lives.
'As we helped the brotherly Syrian people, we tested over 200 new types of weapons,' he told the Duma.
READ MORE
Ghouta massacre enters second week as airstrikes claim more lives
Médecins Sans Frontières: Doctors and nurses collapsing as medical response in East Ghouta reaches its limits
International website of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)- 24 February 2018 - MSF calls for an immediate ceasefire to enable the basic human act of helping the sick and wounded.
Casualty numbers in Syria’s besieged East Ghouta enclave are soaring beyond imagination as the capacity to provide healthcare is in its final throes , said the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today.
READ MORE
Associated Press, Feb. 20, 2018 Opposition figure says Assad, Iran, and Russia are committing 'a new Holocaust' in Syria
Assad regime parliament member describes people of eastern Ghouta as ‘lice and rats’
Al Arabiya, 23 February 2018-- Nabil Saleh, a member of the Syrian parliament representing an area in the port city of Latakia, described the people of eastern Ghouta as “lice and rats” promising to “clean it up from the enemies of Islam and freedom”.
Saleh said on his official Facebook page that Damascus “can no longer tolerate the lice of Ghouta”, and that they will force the “Ghouta rats to return to where they belong”.
Saleh’s statements come amidst a wave of air strikes by Russia and the Assad regime targeting Ghouta the past few days, which caused the death of more than 400 people, including women and children.
Saleh discredited all the pictures and reports of death and destruction saying that they’re fabricated, and that they are actually pictures of “Palestinian victims in occupied territories”.
He called for the prosecution of all those who are against the entry of Assad regime forces into eastern Ghouta, calling it treason.
Saleh received a lot of backlash following his statements. People replied to his comment claiming that the pictures are from Palestine saying, “What you have done to Syrians is much worse than what the Zionists have done to the Palestinians”.
Stop the “monstrous annihilation” of Eastern Ghouta – Zeid
GENEVA (21 February 2018) – Since the Syrian Government and their allies escalated their offensive against opposition-held Eastern Ghouta on 4 February, there have been more than 1,200 civilian casualties, including at least 346 killed and 878 injured, mostly in airstrikes hitting residential areas, according to reports documented by the UN Human Rights Office.
Baghdad Post, December 26, 2017 - Hundreds of patients are awaiting evacuation from Syria's Eastern Ghouta, which is besieged by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad regime, Anadolu News Agency reported.
Many babies and children have lost their lives in the area due to hunger and lack of medicines.
Assad regime, which has intensified its siege on Eastern Ghouta in the last eight months, targets even schools and orphanages in the besieged area.
Until April this year, it was possible to bring food and medicine to the region by secret tunnels and dealers but now it has become impossible.
This situation made impossible the treatment of hundreds of patients.
Opposition-held Rural Damascus Health Directorate Spokesman Fayez Arabi said that there is a blockade in Eastern Ghouta for many years.
'The number of our patients, who are awaiting evacuation due to inadequate medicine and medical equipment, has surpassed 600,' Arabi said.
He added that the number is expected to increase.
Read more
Suffering in Eastern Ghouta reaches “critical point”
Orient Net, 19, December 2017-- The International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ) on Monday warned of a humanitarian crisis in Syria’s besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta due to intensified fighting, food shortages and the blocking of medical evacuations and aid delivery.
'The humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta has reached a critical point. As so often in Syria over the last 6 years, ordinary people are once again trapped in a situation where life slowly becomes impossible and where goods and aid are severely limited,' said the ICRC’s Middle East director, Robert Mardini.
In addition, medical workers on the ground report hundreds of sick and wounded people are deprived from life-saving medical care. The cold weather threatens to further deteriorate the situation. With almost no fuel available, people have very little access to proper heating, further risking their health.
AK Parti Ankara Milletvekili | Member of Parliament for Ankara Twitted in support of Karim 2 month kid who lost his eye and mother in Assad Bombardment last month
Syrian children stand in solidarity with Karim, who lost his eye and had his skull broken by Assad regime shelling on his home in Eastern Ghouta. His mother was also killed by the same attack. #SolidarityWithKarim
AMMAN (Reuters) DEC. 4, 2017 - Jets believed to be Syrian and Russian struck heavily crowded residential areas in a besieged rebel enclave near Damascus, killing at least 27 people and injuring dozens in the third week of a stepped-up assault, residents, aid workers and a war monitor said on Monday. Read more
Syria's deadliest month of 2017 claims 3,000 lives BEIRUT (AFP) 01 October 2017 - Syria's war killed at least 3,000 people including 955 civilians in September, the deadliest month of the conflict this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday.Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and millions displaced since the war erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.It has since spiralled into a complex conflict involving world powers, with Russia-backed regime forces and a US-supported alliance separately battling the Islamic State jihadist group in the country.
Syrian, Russian jets bomb residential areas in eastern Ghouta: witnesses, monitor
AMMAN (Reuters) DEC. 4, 2017 - Jets believed to be Syrian and Russian struck heavily crowded residential areas in a besieged rebel enclave near Damascus, killing at least 27 people and injuring dozens in the third week of a stepped-up assault, residents, aid workers and a war monitor said on Monday. Read more
In Syria region under regime siege, children die of hunger
Hamouria (Syria) (AFP) - One-month-old Sahar, her ribs protruding under translucent skin, breathed her last on Sunday in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, where a crushing regime siege has pushed hundreds of children to the brink of starvation.
Only a trickle of humanitarian aid ever reaches this rebel-held region east of Damascus, under a tight blockade by Assad regime forces since 2013.
On Saturday, the parents of Sahar Dofdaa, just 34 days old, took her to a hospital in the Eastern Ghouta town of Hamouria.
Images filmed by a reporter working with AFP showed a wide-eyed girl with listless eyes and little but skin on her bones.
Suffering of civilians in Eastern Ghouta “an outrage” – Zeid
GENEVA (27 October 2017) – The situation of at least 350,000 besieged civilians in Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus, is an outrage, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Friday, as he called on the parties to the conflict to allow badly needed food and medical supplies to get into the area.
“The shocking images of what appear to be severely malnourished children that have emerged in recent days are a frightening indication of the plight of people in Eastern Ghouta, who are now facing a humanitarian emergency,” said Zeid.
Syria's deadliest month of 2017 claims 3,000 lives BEIRUT (AFP) 01 October 2017 - Syria's war killed at least 3,000 people including 955 civilians in September, the deadliest month of the conflict this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday.Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and millions displaced since the war erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.It has since spiralled into a complex conflict involving world powers, with Russia-backed regime forces and a US-supported alliance separately battling the Islamic State jihadist group in the country.
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