by Seth J. Frantzman
For years, the base was the subject of interest because it had an entrance to a large underground tunnel and was likely being used by the IRGC to transfer weapons via Syria to Hezbollah.
 |
New video footage in Syria allegedly shows a secret Iranian base that was established almost seven years ago near the Iraqi border. The base was abandoned when the Assad regime fell, and Iranian-backed groups fled to Iraq.
The base was of interest because it had an entrance to a large underground tunnel and was likely being used by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to transfer weapons via Syria to Hezbollah.
The base also supplies local Iranian-backed militia groups. The unconfirmed video shows massive underground tunnels that are large enough for a car to drive through. The desert area resembles the former base.
In September 2019, Fox News reported that “Iran has established a new military base in Syria and has plans to house thousands of troops at the location, according to multiple Western intelligence sources.” The base was called the Imam Ali compound.
#Syria: Iranians and their affiliated groups, including the Fatemiyoun Brigade, built an impressive underground network on border with Iraq.
— Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) December 19, 2025
This video shows tunnels large enough to accommodate vehicles.
This network served as a key weapons-smuggling route for #IRGC-affiliated… https://t.co/skpLnTzZuf pic.twitter.com/DIuA1hpiL9
The Fox News report noted that “analysts at Image Sat International (ISI) who reviewed the images say that precision-guided missiles could be housed at five different newly constructed buildings that are surrounded by large dirt mounds. The images also show in the northwest part of the base 10 additional storehouses with less external protection, as well as new buildings and missile storage structures.”
"This network served as a key weapons-smuggling route for #IRGC-affiliated groups and Hezbollah, concealed from aerial surveillance,” Qalaat al Mudiq added. “Footage from Imam Ali base, near Abukemal, 3–4 km from the Iraqi border.”
What do we know about the base?
“The classified Iranian project, called the Imam Ali compound, was approved by top leadership in Tehran and is being completed by the Iranian al-Quds Forces. Using a civilian satellite company, Fox News verified the information and obtained images that show a base being constructed on the Syria-Iraq border,” Fox News said in September 2019.Subsequent images published by Fox News showed Iran was continuing construction on the base. In December 2019, another report said the base was being used to store missiles.
A fourth report, also at Fox News, in May 2020, showed a new satellite image revealing that the Iranians had built a large tunnel entrance. “Intelligence analysis conducted by Image Sat International (ISI), a civilian satellite company, indicates the tunnel is fit to be used for the storage of vehicles carrying advanced weapons systems.
This conclusion was drawn from looking at similar tunnels that were dug over the past nine months on the same complex. One such tunnel, two miles away, was bombed in March, forcing the Iranians to abruptly stop construction.”
The base was largely forgotten after 2020, and it was unclear if more construction took place. The area near Albukamal, a Syrian border town with Iraq, was targeted with airstrikes several times. In 2020, Fox News reported airstrikes on the area.
In June 2018, an airstrike hit a house used by the Iraqi militia group Kataib Hezbollah in Albukamal. Kataib Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed militia based in Iraq. It began operating in Syria to back the Assad regime and was likely involved in trafficking weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The groups share a similar name and both are backed by the IRGC. Kataib Hezbollah was run by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis until his death in a US airstrike in January 2020. He was killed alongside IRGC Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani while driving from Baghdad International Airport. No one took responsibility for the airstrikes targeting the area near the border in 2018 and 2020.
The new video of the abandoned site shows a person on a motorcycle emerging from the large tunnel. It also shows someone driving into the tunnel. There is nothing at the site, and it appears completely abandoned. It is not confirmed that this is the actual Imam Ali site.
The site continued beyond just a tunnel. It also had warehouses and other infrastructure designed to support the Iranian presence in Syria and the Iranian-backed militias.
Seth J. Frantzman
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-880898
No comments:
Post a Comment