12.03.2015, 00:07
Zitat: Iran-backed advance in southern Syria rattles Israel<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2015/0306/Iran-backed-advance-in-southern-Syria-rattles-Israel">http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-E ... les-Israel</a><!-- m -->
As Iran nuclear talks near a deadline, Shiite forces are on the move near the Golan Heights, potentially pitting Iranian forces against those of Israel.
By Nicholas Blanford, Correspondent March 6, 2015
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For nearly a month, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah organization and other Shiite forces under Iranian command have been inching their way across a belt of southern Syria in a bid to drive out rebel forces fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an important Iranian ally.
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Israel has not claimed responsibility for the Quneitra drone attack, but it was interpreted as an unusually forceful warning to Iran and Hezbollah to stay away from the Golan.
However, far from being deterred, the Iran-led offensive in the eastern Golan began less than two weeks later. Indeed, the operation was named in memory of the “Martyrs of Quneitra,” a reference to the dead Hezbollah fighters and Iranian general.
"We are taking the area square by square until we reach the border with Israel," says Abu Ali, a veteran Hezbollah fighter who has served multiple tours in Syria. He confirmed that Iran was leading the offensive and that Iranian troops were on the ground. "Not just officers but soldiers as well," Abu Ali says. "Iran will be so close to the Israelis that it will no longer need long-range missiles to hit them."
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