BICOM

US news network Fox News reported this morning that Iran is building a new military base eight miles northwest of Damascus

Satellite images from Israeli firm ImageSat International show what is believed to be a new base with warehouses – each roughly 18m x 27m  – which could store short and medium-range missiles. Western intelligence officials say that the base contains hangars used to stockpile missiles “capable of hitting all of Israel”. According to the report, members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s special operations Quds Force are operating the base.

The new base is similar to one established by the Iranians near the town of al-Kiswah, 15km southwest Damascus, which was reportedly hit by Israeli airstrikes last December.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded to the report saying: “There’s nothing new under the sun, and there is no need to treat all information in the media as absolute. We are listening and following the events. We will also act in the international realm to achieve everything possible.”

Gen. Joseph L. Votel, Head of US Central Command, told a US House Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday that Iran was “increasing” the number and “quality” of its ballistic missiles it was deploying to the region. He said Iran has “enhanced” its funding to proxy forces in the Middle East since the landmark nuclear agreement in July 2015, including sending missiles, fighters and other arms to Yemen and Syria.

But Votel emphasised that “countering Iran is not one of the coalition’s missions in Syria,” but rather that of “indirectly” countering Iran

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told European diplomats and leaders that Israel “will act if necessary not just against Iran’s proxies but against Iran itself,” holding up a piece of an Iranian drone Israel shot down after it infiltrated its territory.

Last week, the New York Times reported the locations of dozens of bases in Syria operated by Iran and its Shia militias. The report concluded that Iran was “redrawing the strategic map of the region.”