American official: Israel carried out strikes on Syria in cooperation with US intelligence

A senior US intelligence official told the Associated Press that the air strikes carried out by Israel in eastern Syria on targets linked to Iran last night were supported by intelligence information provided by the United States.

The official's statements after the attack were similar to a rare event of the announced cooperation between the two countries on selecting targets in Syria.

The American official, who requested anonymity, said that the strikes targeted a series of warehouses near the Iraqi border that were prepared to store and equip Iranian weapons.

According to the official, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the air strikes on Tuesday, with the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Yossi Cohen, at a public meeting at Café Milano in Washington on Monday.

He added that "the depots were like a line prepared for components that support the Iranian nuclear program," while it was not clear whether this statement aims to indicate that these nuclear components were targeted in the past night strikes, or if it refers to the previous uses of those facilities.

The strikes which were said to have targeted more than 15 facilities linked to Iran were the fourth attack declared by Israel against Iranian targets in Syria in the past two weeks, a significant increase over the normal rate for such strikes.

According to the SANA news agency, the mouthpiece of the Syrian government, the strikes targeted locations in the regions of Al Bukamal and Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, where groups loyal to Iran are widely spread.

The reported strikes came hours after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited the Syrian border, where he said that Israel would continue to take measures against its enemies ."" near and far

At dawn today, Israeli aircrafts targeted with more than 18 air strikes sites, warehouses of ammunition and weapons belonging to the Damascus government forces, and other groups loyal to Iran, or what is known as the "Fatemiyoun Brigade" in the area extending from Deir ez-Zor city to the Syrian-Iraqi border in the Badia of Al Bukamal.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the air strikes caused great damage to government sites and others belonging to groups loyal to Iran, while about 80 people were killed and 37 others were wounded, most of them loyal to Iran.

D.H