Senior Commander of the IRGC: The U.S. Destroyed Iran's Ground-to-Ground Weapon Factory in Aleppo

The commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that U.S. forces have "completely destroyed" a ground-to-ground weapon factory that Iran had built in Aleppo, Syria. According to ISNA news agency, Amir Ali Hajizadeh stated on Tuesday, November 15, that one of the goals of the U.S. in the region is "to eliminate the armies of Islamic countries." He accused the U.S. of having "destroyed" the weapon resources of the Syrian army, including the ground-to-ground weapon factory built by Iran in Aleppo, which has been "completely destroyed" by U.S. forces. The senior IRGC commander did not provide further details on this matter or specify when this occurred. U.S. officials have not yet responded to this claim. Hajizadeh also mentioned that part of the Iraqi army was "destroyed" by the U.S. invasion and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and another part was "devoured" by ISIS. His remarks about the construction of a ground-to-ground weapon factory by Iran in Aleppo come just four days after the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces announced the establishment of a missile factory in the same city by Iran. Mohammad Bagheri stated on November 10 that Iran has created a "missile manufacturing industry for Syria" in Aleppo and "produced missiles" that were used in the "33-day war" against Israel. Bagheri's reference is to the conflict between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, known as the "33-day war." Aleppo, once considered the economic center of Syria, has become one of the most important centers of conflict in the country's civil war. A joint operation by the Syrian army, supported by Russia and Iran, to retake Aleppo began about two months ago. Opponents of Bashar al-Assad's government accuse the state forces, with support from Moscow and Tehran, of killing, injuring, or displacing tens of thousands of civilians. Russia claims it targets Islamist terrorists in Syria, while Iran has stated that its presence in the country is "advisory." Meanwhile, the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force said that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has ordered that the presence of Iranian military forces in Syria and Iraq be "advisory" so that Iranian forces do not get "stuck in the quagmire" of these two countries, as the result would be a protracted war and considered an occupation of another country. According to Hajizadeh, during the U.S. attack on Afghanistan, Iranian military forces were "fully prepared to take Herat," but the Supreme Leader did not allow Iranian forces to enter the "quagmire" of Afghanistan, and "NATO got stuck in that quagmire." Previously, some analysts had stated that the civil war in Syria would be "long-term" and "protracted," but Ismail Qaani, the deputy commander of the Quds Force, predicted on November 6 that the "fate" of the Syrian war would be determined this year. After the U.S. attack on Afghanistan, reports emerged about cooperation between Iran and the United States for the fall of the Taliban regime, and some Iranian officials, including Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, confirmed these reports. Ryan Crocker, the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan, also mentioned in his memoirs, without naming, the willingness of an Iranian diplomat for a U.S. attack on Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Yahya Rahim Safavi, a military advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, stated on October 18 that the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq was "beneficial" for Iran, as with the occupation of these countries, two enemies of the Islamic Republic in the west and east were eliminated, and "Iran's political weight increased."