Syrian military source denies   any  attack on al-Tanf base

A Syrian military source denied in an exclusive statement to Al-Jazeera that the Al-Tanf military base, located in the far southeast of Homs province, was subjected to any Iranian military shelling or  targeting, following the announcement by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps of carrying out a surprise strike against  the former American base.

 "No Iranian attack targeted the base located at the border triangle between Syria, Iraq and Jordan," the source said, stressing that there were no US troops at the base. 

In this context,  Reuters quoted a Syrian military source as saying that an Iranian attack took place in the vicinity of the al-Tanf area, but it did not hit the base itself and did not result in any human casualties or material damage.

This Syrian military denial comes in conjunction with the announcement by the United States of America earlier that its military forces officially left the Al-Tanf base  last February, thus ending a military presence that lasted for more than a decade in that strategic area located at the triangle of the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announces targeting of US command center

The Syrian denial came shortly after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps issued an official statement on Friday, July 17, announcing the targeting of what it described as the "US Special Operations Command Center" at the Al-Tanf base in eastern Syria, noting that the attack comes in direct response to the "killing of Iranian soldiers in the city of Iranshahr" as a result of violent airstrikes on the city last night.

  The IRGC said in its statement that its aerospace forces carried out a "surprise and successful attack" on the military center, and that the targeting resulted in the destruction of an entire radar system, a number of helicopters intended for special operations, as well as the "death of a large number of American soldiers" inside the base.

Counter-strikes and accelerated US-Iranian escalation

The past hours witnessed the most violent military escalation of its kind, as a number of dead and wounded fell on Thursday night and Friday following intensive US airstrikes targeting a vital airport, bridges and vital infrastructure inside Iranian territory, in response to previous attacks on US interests in the region.

This escalation on the ground coincided with very harsh political language from the White House, as US President Donald Trump on Thursday renewed his offensive statements against Tehran, stressing that the Iranians "will be defeated very soon."

At the same time, Trump noted that there are indications that the Iranian leadership is willing to de-escalate, saying that they "want to reach a settlement" and that he will consider whether a new deal can be reached with them, reflecting a complex combination between declaring a direct military threat and keeping the diplomatic track open, as U.S. strikes continue and targets in Iran expand.