Israeli media sources published unconfirmed reports on Thursday, September 12 that Israeli special forces carried out a raid on a weapons facility run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Masyaf area, in the Syrian central governorate of Hama earlier this week. According to the reports, the facility was used as a scientific research center associated with manufacturing chemical weapons, and precision missiles by the Iranian forces and the Syrian armed forces.
Refuting Israeli media reports about the attack, Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency quoted a source on Wednesday, September 12, saying, “Basically, no Iranian force has been present in Syria in that claimed location [Masyaf], while that region was the location of presence of the Syrian Army. Therefore, the subsequent claim, namely harm to Iranian forces or them being captured, is a complete lie.”
Israeli drones struck vehicles of the Syrian security forces simultaneously, blocking the roads leading to the site, where the Israeli commandos were deployed. The reports also claimed that the Israeli commandos seized documents, killed a number of Syrians, and captured two to four Iranians after violent clashes within the facility. In addition, Israeli media outlets said that a Russian communications center was among the sites targeted during the operation in Masyaf.
On Monday, September 9, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, reported that at least 18 people have been killed and scores of others injured in Israeli aggression that targeted several sites in the Masyaf area, without providing further details on the nature of the targeted sites.
On Thursday evening, Israel launched a new attack against Syria, targeting a civilian car in the town of Khan Arnabeh, located on the highway linking Damascus with the Quneitra Governorate. The drone attack left at least two people dead, according to media reports.
Israeli media’s reports about the attack on an alleged Iranian-run chemical weapons’ facility in Syria were published two days after the United States formally accused Iran of providing Russia with short-range ballistic missiles during its war in Ukraine, announcing new sanctions against Tehran.
