According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, Qasem Soleimani arrived at a location on the Syrian-Iraqi border with his militia, despite the frequent US bombing targeting these militias to prevent their advancement towards the Tennaf border area.
The agency published pictures of Soleimani between the Afghani Fatimiyoun militias, which is fighting alongside the Assad regime and under the commands of Soleimani, and confirmed that pro-Assad militias have crossed from US checkpoints and reached these locations two days ago.
In the border triangle between Syria, Iraq and Jordan, the Tennaf region is witnessing a tension between the Iranian militias on the one hand and factions of the Free Syrian Army on the other, to seize new points in the Syrian Badia.
In the past weeks, the US-led coalition has launched three raids against Iranian militia positions near al Tennaf after it tried to approach the area, leaving a 55-kilometer security zone around it, warning that any incursion would be considered a threat.
The advance of the Iranian militia towards the Syrian-Iraqi border comes amid a reduction in the escalation between Russia and the United States especially that the United States has been sharply critical of Russia's moves.
Washington said on Friday that Russia's intervention in Syria was "very useful" to reduce tension in southern Syria, while a senior Russian military official described US military warnings to the Russian forces and its allies as “ridiculous justifications.”
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis stated that “Russia has been very helpful in Syria,” adding that “the ease we see today is largely due to its interventions."
Davis asserted: “They (the Russians) are trying to contact other pro-regime parties and the pro-Iranian militias, and are trying to do what is required to prevent these parties from carrying out destabilizing acts.”
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