Iran denies link to groups targeted by US in Syria

TEHRAN, Iran

Iran on Wednesday denied any link to groups targeted in US airstrikes in eastern Syria, terming the attack a “terrorist act”.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani described the US airstrikes in Deir Ez-Zor province as a “violation” of Syria’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the US military said it carried out airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in the strategic, oil-rich Deir Ez-Zor province, which borders Iraq.

“Today’s strikes were necessary to protect and defend US personnel,” the US military’s Central Command spokesman, Colonel Joe Buccino, said in a statement.

He said the strikes were in response to the August 15 attack targeting US forces in the Green Village base near the Iraqi border.

Last week’s attack on the Green Village base, which houses a small number of US-led coalition forces, did not result in damage or injuries.

Buccino said the “precision airstrikes” were directed by US President Joe Biden, who "gave the direction for these strikes pursuant to his Article II authority to protect and defend US personnel by disrupting or deterring attacks by Iran-backed groups."

The statement did not provide any details about casualty figures from the strikes.

The Iranian spokesman said the “continued presence” of US forces in parts of Syria was “against international laws” and “in violation of Syria’s sovereignty.”

He called on the US forces to “immediately leave” Syria and stop pillaging the country’s “wealth of oil and grain” while terming the US claim of fighting terrorism in Syria as an “excuse for continued occupation” of the Arab country.

The United States has approximately 900 troops stationed in Syria, who are scattered between the At-Tanf base near Syria's border with Jordan and Iraq and the eastern oil fields.

Iran, which supports Bashar al-Assad’s government in Damascus, also maintains an extensive military presence in the country, which is often targeted in US and Israeli airstrikes.

On Monday, a senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Abolfazl Alijani was killed in Syria, the IRGC said, without giving further details.