Four Iranians said killed in Syria strike blamed on Israel

Four Iranian military officials were killed in a predawn airstrike on a military base in Syria that has been blamed on Israel, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Monday.

Fars described the four men as “defenders of the shrine,” referring to the Shiite shrine of Sayida Zeinab in the Damascus suburbs, and blamed the “Zionist regime” for their deaths. Iran and its allies often say their fighters are in Syria to protect the holy site.

The agency named the men as Seyed Ammar Moussavi, Medi Lotfi Niyasar, Akbar Zawwar Jannati and Mehdi Dehqan Yazdeli. In photos of the three men published on the Fars website, only Niasar was shown wearing military fatigues.

In a rare move, Russia accused Israel of carrying out the predawn missile strike that hit an air base in central Syria reportedly killing 14 people, among them the Iranian nationals.

Dictator Bashar Assad’s regime also said Israel was behind the airstrike.

Israeli military officials refused to comment on the allegations. However, NBC News quoted two US officials as saying that Israel had carried out the strike and informed Washington ahead of time.

Three Iranians were killed in air strike on Syrian air base on Sunday: @FarsNews_Agency#Iran #Israel #SyriaCrisis#T4Airbasehttps://t.co/WrfXiHYytJ pic.twitter.com/qyJ48bvqey

— Iran's Today (@Iran) April 9, 2018

The United States and France officially denied carrying out the strike, which came shortly after both countries threatened to retaliate for a chemical weapons attack allegedly conducted by Assad in the Syrian town of Douma late Saturday.

The target of the reported airstrike was the Tiyas air base — also known as the T-4 air base — outside Palmyra in central Syria. Israel has previously carried out at least one explicitly acknowledged attack on the base, which it said was home to an Iranian drone program.

According to Russia, the strike was carried out shortly before 4 a.m. Monday by two Israeli F-15 fighter jets.

The Russian defense ministry said the Israeli aircraft launched eight missiles at the base from Lebanese airspace, five of which it said were intercepted.

While Syria has publicly accused Israel of conducting airstrikes against targets in its territory, Russia has mostly refrained from commenting on these attacks.

Israel conducted an airstrike against the Tiyas base on February 10, after an Iranian operator working out of it flew an Iranian-made drone into Israeli territory, according to the army.

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During that airstrike an Israeli F-16 was downed by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile. The two-man crew ejected over Israeli territory where the plane crashed. The pilot was seriously injured. In response, Israel launched a series of strikes that the air force said inflicted serious damage on Syria’s air-defense infrastructure.

The missile attack followed a suspected poison gas attack Saturday on the last remaining foothold for the Syrian opposition in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. At least 40 people were killed, including families found in their homes and shelters, opposition activists and local rescuers said.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump had promised a “big price to pay” for the suspected chemical attack.

After the airstrikes were reported, however, Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood said in a statement, “At this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting air strikes in Syria.”

Agencies contributed to this report.