Leak says Iran hid weapons among earthquake aids to target US forces

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Iran and its proxies are enabling attacks on US forces in Syria with secret weapons shipments hidden within the humanitarian aid that poured into the region after the catastrophic earthquake that killed tens of thousands earlier this year, according to a classified US intelligence and Israeli military official familiar with the matter. Subject.

The findings, laid out in a leak of American secrets circulated on the messaging platform Discord and obtained by The Washington Post, raise sharp questions about the ability of the United States and its allies to intercept Iranian-origin weapons routinely used to target American personnel and partners. Forces and civilians in the Middle East. The top-secret document, which has not been previously disclosed, amplifies past reports of Iran’s alleged efforts to hide defensive military hardware among aid shipments to Syria after the February debacle that devastated that country and neighboring Turkey.

A US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive disclosures, declined to address the authenticity of the document but said the activity it describes is consistent with past efforts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “to use humanitarian aid destined for Iraq and Syria as a means of delivering materials to IRGC-affiliated groups.” Iranian Revolutionary.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment. Last month, Iranian officials told the Reuters news agency that its report, which details Tehran’s alleged use of cargo planes to smuggle air defense systems into Syria under the guise of earthquake assistance, was “incorrect.” Reuters attributed its reports to nine people in Syria, Iran, Israel and the West.

America grapples with Iranian provocations in the Middle East

Iran’s alleged smuggling of offensive weapons into Syria includes unidentified small arms and ammunition and unmanned drones, according to a leaked US intelligence estimate. The document says that these deliveries were made using car convoys from Iraq that were coordinated through friendly armed groups there and the Quds Force, Iran’s rapid intervention unit that specializes in managing proxy fighters and gathering intelligence.

The Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information like others interviewed for this report, confirmed that the Quds Force was involved in such activity.

The leaked intelligence document confirms that in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, Iran and its affiliates moved quickly to exploit the chaos. On February 7, a day after the disaster destroyed scores of homes and other buildings, setting off a desperate rescue effort, an armed group based in Iraq allegedly “orchestrated the transfer of guns, ammunition and 30 drones hidden in aid convoys to support future attacks on.” US Forces in Syria Drones is a military acronym for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

On February 13, a Quds Force officer instructed a group of Iraqi militia to “include weapons in legitimate anti-earthquake aid,” the leaked US document states, noting that another Quds Force officer kept a list of “hundreds” of vehicles and goods that entered. Syria. From post-earthquake Iraq, an apparent attempt to manage where all the smuggled weapons are headed.

The Iraqi anti-American militias are not just proxies of Iran

The leaked US assessment also implicates the “chief of staff of the Military Council,” an apparent reference to Abu Fadak al-Muhammadawi, a senior official in the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces. The Shia militia coalition, allied in many cases with Iran, receives funding from the Iraqi government through its official state body, the Popular Mobilization Committee, or PMC.

The group denied allegations that its affiliates used humanitarian aid shipments as a channel for arms deliveries. Muayyad al-Saadi, a government spokesman, said the aid packages had been approved by the Iraqi government and had reached the Syrians in need. He said that such allegations “will not discourage the Iraqi people from helping the Syrian brothers and standing with them in their humanitarian ordeal, away from any political or other considerations.”

The leaked intelligence findings highlight an inconvenient truth: that even as the 250 US troops continue to serve in Iraq as advisors, working alongside the Iraqi army, the government in Baghdad appears unwilling to go after the PMF fighters who pose a threat to both armies. .

The Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, took office last year with the backing of Iran-linked groups. A spokesperson declined to provide an official response. However, a senior official in his office denied the findings of the US document, calling it “fake” and saying that no pretext was required to supply arms to groups in Syria working with Iran.

“In fact, the borders are wide open; in fact we are still suffering from illegal infiltration across the Syrian borders,” said this official. “Which means that if these documents are true, it is possible at any time. Why wait for an aid convoy as a justification?”

Israel has targeted convoys suspected of carrying weapons to Syria and Lebanon, according to leaked intelligence documents, but the risk of striking bona fide humanitarian supplies has posed challenges. The document says it is “highly likely” that the Israelis will continue their blocking efforts, but that they need “more rigorous intelligence confirmation before purported aid shipments are struck”.

Biden warns Iran after US forces clash with proxy groups in Syria

American officials say the threat from Iranian-allied groups in Syria, where about 900 American troops are working with local forces to stifle a resurgence of the Islamic State, continues.

In March, for example, an American contractor working at a base there was killed by what the Pentagon said was an Iranian-made drone. Another contractor there was wounded in the attack, and several American service members sustained head injuries from the blast.

The US defense official said US officials are confident the drone that killed US contractor Scott Dobbis was not smuggled into the country in one of the earthquake aid convoys, but declined to elaborate.

Dubis, a longtime US military contractor from South Carolina, was killed March 23 while working on an armored vehicle at a US base near the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria. A second US military official said the hangar he was working in during the attack was not as well protected as the rest of the base. The official said the Avenger air defense system was in place to protect against air threats, and it remains unclear why and how the system failed to engage the drone.

Shortly after Dobbis’ death, US fighter jets bombed the Iran-backed militia believed responsible for the attack, prompting a dire warning to Tehran from President Biden, who said the US would respond forcefully to violent attacks on American personnel.

Mike Dubis, Scott Dubis’ older brother, told The Post that U.S. officials have not given his family any details about the investigation. The lack of information is frustrating, he said, because there are still serious questions about how the militants managed to breach the defenses of a US military base.

“It looks like not enough is being done to prevent it,” said Mike Dobbis.

Salem narrated from Baghdad and Hendrix from Jerusalem. Louisa Lovelock in London contributed to this report.

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