Iran
Syrian air defense batteries responding to alleged Israeli missiles targeting Damascus on Jan 21, 2019. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran on Monday rejected Israel’s “absurd claims" of striking its bases and troops in Syria while emphasizing Iranian forces’ “advisory” mission in the neighboring country.
Iran's arch rival has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria through its 11-year civil war, often claiming to target bases and shipments of Iran-backed militias in the country.
"We believe that all the actions of the Zionist regime are illegal and illegitimate ... the [regime's] claim that it has attacked Iran's bases is absurd, baseless, and invalid," Iranian foreign ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said during his weekly press briefing, blaming the US for supporting Israel's attacks against Syria.
Although Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria over the course of the last decade, it rarely acknowledges them.
"Iran's presence in Syria is advisory and these claims are invalid," Kanaani said, with Tehran being a major ally of Damascus in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's quest to crush rebels and retake territory in his country.
"As long as the Syrian government asks for help from Iran, Iran will not hold back," he added, affirming the strong partnership between the two countries.
Dozens of rocket attacks have been conducted by Israel in Syria since the start of the year.
On Wednesday, an Israeli strike targeted Aleppo International Airport and damaged its runway, months following another strike that rendered the runways in the capital Damascus's airport unusable.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor alleged that the strike targeted an Iranian missile shipment to the airport.
Three Syrian soldiers were killed and about seven others wounded due to an Israeli strike on Damascus in July.
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