The Middle East is ready to “explode”: Israel also strikes Syria and Iran prepares for revenge – Today's Articles – News.tn

At least 10 people, including four members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were killed today in an airstrike attributed to Israel against a building in Damascus, according to a new tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization.

“The death toll rose from six to ten after bodies were recovered from under the rubble,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based non-governmental organization with a large network of sources in Syria.

Tehran blames Israel and threatens revenge

Iran today accused Israel of carrying out the attack in Syria and threatened to respond “at the appropriate time and place,” according to an Iranian diplomatic statement.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Al-Kanani “unequivocally condemned the criminal act carried out by the Zionist regime,” which is “a desperate attempt to spread instability and insecurity in the region.”

Who are the powerful Revolutionary Guards who will intervene after the Houthis?

Senior officers of the Revolutionary Guard – A A major military, political and economic power in Iran – They have been in Syria since the start of the country's civil war in 2011, to help support President Bashar al-Assad's regime against the widespread rebellion against his rule. It is believed that the attack on Saturday (1/20) occurred in the Mezzeh area, southwest of Damascus, an area that includes a military airport, as well as the United Nations headquarters in Damascus, embassies, and restaurants.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was established more than 40 years ago to defend the country's Islamic regime. To act as a counterweight to the regular armed forces. It has since become a major military, political and economic power in Iran, with close ties to the powerful Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and many of the country's top officials and officials.

The number of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is estimated at more than 190,000 individuals, and it has its own land, sea and air forces, and supervises Iranian strategic weapons. It also controls the paramilitary Basij resistance force, which helped in this Suppressing opponents at homeAnd the powerful charities that run much of the country's economy.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, established after the Iranian Revolution on April 22, 1979, by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. While the Iranian army defends Iran's borders and maintains internal order, according to the Iranian constitution, the Revolutionary Guard Protecting the political system of the Islamic Republic of the country.

Expanded role of the Guard

They are primarily oriented toward asymmetric warfare and less conventional missions. These include control of smuggling, control of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway linking the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and through which 20% of the world's oil supply passes, and resistance operations. Their role is also based on protecting the Islamic system and preventing foreign interventions and coups by the military or “deviant movements.”

As of 2011, the Revolutionary Guard numbered at least 250,000 military personnel, including ground, air, and naval forces. Their naval forces are now the primary forces assigned to the mission Operational control of the Persian Gulf.

Since its birth as an ideologically motivated militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has assumed a greater role in almost every aspect of Iranian society. Reuters reported, “This is it An industrial empire with political influence.

Its expanding social, political, military and economic role since the rule of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, especially during the 2009 presidential elections and the post-election crackdown on protests, has led many Western analysts to say that its political power It has even surpassed the country's Shiite religious system.

HThe Commander-in-Chief of the Guard since 2019 is Hussein Salami. He was preceded by Mohammad Ali Jafari and Yahya Rahim Safavi from 2007 and 1997, respectively. The Supreme Commander of the IRGC and other senior officers regularly advise the Supreme Leader.

Guardians of the Islamic Revolution It is classified as a terrorist organization By the governments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. In addition to the name Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian government, media, and those identified with the organization generally use Sepah-e Pasdaran (Guard Army), or simply Pasdara (Guard). Among the Iranian population, especially among Iranians in the diaspora, use of the word pasdaran indicates hatred or admiration for the organization, the BBC notes.

Soleimani assassination

On January 3, 2020, the United States killed the powerful Quds Force commander, Major General Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Baghdad. The Defense Department said it organized a missile attack in Iraq that killed an American contractor and “developed active plans to attack” American diplomats and soldiers in the region. Ayatollah Khamenei calls for 'violent retaliation' Which raises fears of a major conflict.

The IRGC Air Force bears partial responsibility for the Iranian missiles. The United States says Iran has the largest ballistic missile force in the Middle East, with more than 10 ballistic missile systems either in stock or under development, and a stockpile of hundreds of missiles. In 2018, ballistic missiles were fired at an Iranian Kurdish rebel group based in northern Iraq and Islamic State positions in Syria.

Their power is beyond limits

The Revolutionary Guard also has influence in other parts of the Middle East Provide money, weapons, technology and education and advising allied governments and armed groups through its foreign operations arm, the Quds Force (Al-Quds).

The United States accuses the Quds Force of supporting terrorist organizations and being responsible for attacks in Iraq and other countries in the Middle East that resulted in Hundreds of Americans and their allies were killed.

Iran has acknowledged the Quds Force's role in the conflict in Syria, where it has been providing advice Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad He has armed thousands of Shiite militias fighting alongside him, and in Iraq, where he has supported Shiite paramilitary groups that helped defeat ISIS.

The United States also accused the Qods Force of planning or carrying out terrorist attacks, directly or through its agents, on five continents. In 2011, the Quds Force On charges of involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassadorOr in the United States with the bombing of a restaurant in Georgetown. In 2019, a court in Germany convicted a Quds Force agent of spying on the former head of a German-Israeli group and people close to him.