Recent reports have named a previously unknown senior officer working in Syria on behalf of Iran's elite Quds Force, Kan 11 News reported on Thursday.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The news, which cited a report by the United States-based Alhurra Arabic-language channel, comes a day after Saudi media outlets said Syrian President Bashar Assad had been involved in ejecting Iranian Quds Force Commander in Syria Jawad Ghafari from the country.
According to Saudi news outlets Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, Assad asked the Iranian regime to withdraw Asaf's predecessor, Ghafari, due to the "overactivity" of the Quds Force in Syria, which Assad considered a breach of sovereignty in multiple sectors.
The newly named officer was identified as Ali Asaf, a Lebanese national who has been identified as a Hezbollah operative and "today works for the Islamic Republican Guards Corps-Quds Force on Syrian soil," Kan stated.
According to Alhurra, Iranian elements have been smuggling weapons into Asaf's possessions so he could set up militias in areas including Aleppo, northern Syria, Tadmor, central Syria and Damascus and arm them with rockets to use in possible future attacks on Israel.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
