Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Friday said its forces struck the al-Tanf air base in southeastern Syria, in the first attack of its kind since the start of the U.S.-Iran war.
The IRGC wrote in a statement carried by state-affiliated media that the strike targeted a U.S. command and control center at al-Tanf and was in retaliation for a strike on a barracks in the city of Iranshahr on Wednesday, which killed at least seven soldiers.
The IRGC added that the attack had destroyed a radar system and killed several U.S. personnel.
The Syrian military has not officially confirmed that Iran had successfully struck the base. Some reports, citing unnamed military officials, said Iran’s assertion was false and that no attack had taken place.
It’s unclear if there were any U.S. military personnel at al-Tanf on Friday. In February, the U.S. military said it had completed a full withdrawal from the base in conjunction with a wider pullout of troops from Syria.
U.S. Central Command, which coordinates American military operations in the Middle East, has not commented on Iran’s assertion.
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If confirmed, the attack is the first time Iranian forces have launched an attack on Syrian territory since the start of the U.S.-Iran war in February. Iran has since launched attacks on U.S. military assets in the region, including in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
After the collapse of a 60-day ceasefire earlier this month, Iran and the U.S. have steadily expanded their attacks. Overnight, CENTCOM launched more strikes on Iranian military targets in the south while also hitting energy sites and civilian infrastructure.
Iran, for its part, retaliated by hitting a U.S. military base in Qatar, a power station in Kuwait, Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq, a U.S. radar center in Oman and launching several missiles at targets in Jordan.
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Vaughn Cockayne
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