Equipped with Russian-made tanks, Iranian rockets and operating as an elite unit trained by the Islamic Republic, an Iraqi Shi’ite militia that entered the fighting in Syria in 2013 to support President Bashar Assad, has formed a new brigade with a declared target of “liberating the Golan from all foreign forces.” The Golan Brigade, which according to security experts, openly declares its loyalty to the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, has been trained and equipped with advanced weaponry.
In recent months, there have been records of the Shi’ite militia fighters equipped with Russian T-90 tanks, which according to defense experts were acquired indirectly from Russia through the Syrian military. According to an Israeli official, who asked to remain anonymous, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, came in response to the formation of this Iranian-backed militia on Israel’s border region. Netanyahu conveyed to Putin that Israel will not tolerate permanent Iranian presence in Syria, and hopes Moscow will act to avoid active Israeli measures to confront the growing Iranian threat.