London-based Arab newspaper "a-Sharq al-Awsat" quoted Syrian diplomats as saying several Damascus airport security officials had been arrested on suspicion of leaking information on Quds Force commander before his assassination • Pompeo: "If Iran makes a mistake - Trump's reaction would be copper"
Shiite militia at Baghdad airport // Photo: Reuters
The London-based Arab newspaper reported Tuesday that the Syrian regime is making a wave of arrests for fear that civilians and those who leaked the location of the Quds Force commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Suleimani.
According to the Arab newspaper, the detainees are working at Damascus International Airport, from where Suleimani left Baghdad where he was liquidated by a US drone. Those who provided the information are Syrian diplomats who asked to remain anonymous.
It has also been reported in Syria that it is feared that the security personnel at the airport were the ones who transferred to Suleimani the location of the US and thus enabled the action that led to its elimination.
According to one of the diplomats, similar arrests have also been made in Baghdad, and suspicions are focused on the airline employees who flew Sulimani's "Levant wings" operating from Syria.
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Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a press conference that if Iran makes a mistake, President Trump will respond as he responded to the Suleimani liquidation case.
Pompeo said: "Iran has extensive ties with a host of armed groups across the Middle East and also has relations with Taliban. Iran is working to hurt attempts to reach a peace agreement in Afghanistan. Qassim Suleimani has contributed to massacres in hundreds of thousands of Syrians and countless terrorist acts."
"I do not want to comment on the decision not to issue a visa to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Zarif. President Trump is clear when he said Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons. The allegation that Sulimani was a diplomatic mission in Baghdad is a story intended for propaganda purposes. "We planned a series of attacks against US targets. After leaving the nuclear agreement, we worked to isolate Iran. Our sanctions against Iran will severely damage the Tehran budget for 2020," the secretary of state said.