16 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iranian forces and militias in Syrian have been redeployed to areas that have recently come under Israeli airstrikes, Kuwaiti Al-Mujtama magazine reported on Friday.
The magazine disclosed that the redeployment took place in the cities of Deir Ez-Zor, Bokamal, and Al-Mayadeen, noting that the militias evacuated their bases outside the cities and went to residential areas, attempting to avoid further Israeli strikes.
Meanwhile, an Iranian official denied reports about Iranian victims of the latest Israeli strikes on military bases east of Syria.
At the same time, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported senior military sources on Thursday stating that the strikes came in response to new Iranian repositioning on the Syrian-Iraqi borders and fueling the escalation before the induction of the new US administration.
The Israeli daily reported that Iran is facing difficulties reinforcing its existence west of Damascus due to the Israeli strikes, as well as the sanctions imposed on it. Therefore, it had repositioned its forces on the borders with Iraq – an area that is fully under its control and where it has a full infrastructure for moving or smuggling weapons to Lebanon.
Haaretz also divulged an Israeli official stating that Iran had evaluated the situation after recognising that it would face challenges over carrying out its activities near the borders with Israel.
The newspaper also informed that Iran runs a network of drones and cruise missiles in the area, while such activities were impossible on the outskirts of Damascus.
