US Sends Warship to Syria As Tension Grows Over Attacks on Iranian Advisors

By Staff, Agencies

The United States has relocated a warship in the Mediterranean to the coast near Syria as tensions rise between Tehran and Washington over deadly attacks on Iranian military advisors in Syria.

Iran’s envoy to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani earlier on Monday warned that the Islamic Republic will take "decisive measures" to protect its forces and interests in Syria against any threats posed by the United States or others.

Last week, two Iranian military advisers stationed in Syria were killed in an ‘Israeli’ airstrike near the country’s capital Damascus. Following the attack, the IRG issued a stern warning to the ‘Israeli’ regime on Sunday, vowing retaliation for the killing of its military advisers in Syria.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told a press briefing on Monday that, “We saw increased attacks from IRG-affiliated groups targeting our service members across Syria, and so as a precaution we did move the carrier to be slightly closer.”

She added that the relocation of the carrier was in response to what she claimed to be increasing attacks on American service members in the region.

The Pentagon spokeswoman also emphasized that the US has no plans to change its footprint at this time in Syria.

Singh made the remarks on the same day that Iravani warned the United States and others against attacks on Iranian advisors in Syria, stressing that Iran's presence in the Arab country is totally legal and at the request of Damascus.

In his letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the head of the Security Council, Iravani pointed out that Iran’s presence in Syria is totally legal and at the request of Damascus.

The relocation of the US warship came as US President Joe Biden claimed in March that the United States was not seeking a conflict with Iran.

He made the remarks after more than 20 rockets were fired against two illegal bases belonging to the US occupation forces in eastern Syria, killing an American contractor.

US warplanes subsequently launched several strikes on the eastern city of Deir Ez-Zor, targeting the positions of resistance fighters.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said the strikes were carried out at the direction of President Biden, claiming that they targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with the IRG.

However, local sources pointed out that the target was not an Iran-aligned military post, but rather, a rural development center and a grain center in the Hrabash neighborhood, near Deir Ez-Zor military airport. No Iranian was killed in the act of aggression.

An Iranian official has later rejected US allegations that Tehran was involved in the attack, saying the US is trying to divert attention from its illegal occupation of Syria.

Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council [SNSC], warned that the Islamic Republic will give a prompt response to any pretext for an attack on bases inside Syria established at the Syrian government’s request for the purpose of fighting terrorism.