Iran Denies Buying Military Base, Manufacturing Ballistic Missiles in Syria

TEHRAN -The Iranian foreign ministry rejected Israeli media reports that Tehran has purchased a military base in Syria as well as dissidents’ claims that Iran is building ballistic missiles in the Arab country in cooperation with Russia and North Korea.

“Experience has shown that the claims raised by the Zionist regime are mostly media warfare and aimed at disturbing the public opinion in the region and the Muslim world,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Tuesday, according to FARS News.

Also asked about certain Syrian dissident sources’ claims that Iran is producing ballistic missiles in Syria in collaboration with Russia and North Korea, he said, “This is not true and we don’t need to do so and what has militarily happened in Syria so far shows that the country doesn’t need such an investment (in ballistic missile field).”

Israeli media had claimed earlier this week that Iran is not only interested in sending military advisers to Syria, but also is keen on establishing ground and air bases there.

They claimed that Syria has granted Iran’s elite military force a base near the Lebanese border for the deployment of intermediate-range missiles.

Also, Syrian opposition sources were quoted by Israeli media as claiming that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been given the keys to a new base near Homs in Western Syria. They also claimed that the base was located less than 50 kilometers from Lebanon and was being used for training as well as the deployment of the Shahab-3 missile.

“Both reports seem to be efforts to deter Russian cooperation with Iran in Syria,” Political Analyst Seyed Mostafa Khoshcheshm said.

“The Israelis are trying hard to slow down the cooperation between Moscow and Tehran in Syria under the allegations that Iran is seeking to pose a military threat to Israel through military buildup in the war-ravaged country,” he added.

M.Wassouf