NCRI – Regime’s official’s expressions and Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) statements about the attack on “ISIL positions in Syria” are at odds. The most important difference is related to the role of the regime’s intelligence ministry in identifying the targets of the attack, which IRGC is completely denying it. IRGC’s Public Relations in a statement released on Wednesday, June 31, 2017 announced, describing “some details of its missile’s operation”.
Prior to the release of IRGC new statement on missile attacks on some bases in Syrian Deirazor on June 18, 2017, a number of senior government officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi and government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Noobakht, described the role of the Supreme National Security Council in this attack, which was not mentioned in the IRGC’s statement.
Rouhani in a gathering with clerics on Wednesday said: “The IRGC’s move to prepare and launch missile attack on ISIL headquarters in Deirazor, is not the decision of the individual or a military pillar, but such decisions are taken at the Supreme National Security Council. After the terrorist incident in Tehran, in Khomeini’s tomb and the Islamic Consultative Assembly, in response to the terrorists, we empowered the armed forces, which was much before the recent move”.
According to the ILNA news agency, Noobakht on Tuesday, June 20 at his weekly meeting with the press was questioned, whether the attack had been reported to the president as the head of the Supreme National Security Council, he said: “Any action has been taken place was in coordination with the Supreme National Security Council”.
The intelligence minister on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 in an interview with ISNA news agency said:”As the President-elect of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated, this decision was taken at the Supreme National Security Council, and president as head of the Supreme Security Council ordered the armed forces for an unforgettable assault on ISIL. He also mentioned this plan was approved by senior officials”.
Meanwhile, in two statements and a message issued by IRGC’s Public Relations, Defense Forces Communications and Defense Promotion Center on Wednesday night, no reference was made to the role of the Supreme National Security Council in this decision.
However, in IRGC’s new statement, there is no mention of Supreme National Security Council. It is stating, recent missile operation was “carried out in military units, coordinated by the headquarters of the armed forces under the command of the Supreme Leader”.
The major difference in the narrative of the government and IRGC officials about the missile strike on June 18th, 2017 is on the role of the Ministry of Intelligence, which IRGC implicitly deny”.
The intelligence minister to ISNA news agency has said: The ISIL headquarter gatherings were disposed to IRGC’s missile unit by the Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC missiles targeted them …”
Meanwhile, in IRGC’s statement has been emphasized: “All stages of identifying and collecting information on the status of the locations and locations of terrorists in the Deirazor area were made only by the field forces of IRGC, Qods Force in a precise and secure process. Then, they were transferred to missile-air unit of IRGC for action”.
Since IRGC’s statement has been placed on the wire of news agencies after the publication of Mahmoud Alavi’s remarks, it is possible that the purpose of emphasizing that the identification work was “merely” done by the IRGC’s Quds Force is to deny the words of the Minister of Intelligence.
International reports are saying, the attacks were not successful and three missiles from six launched missiles from Iran have not reached the targeted area and landed on Iraqi soil
