Iran Threatens To Strike Syrian Presidential Palace, Damascus Hotels

File image.

Iran has threatened to target the People’s Palace in the Syrian capital, Damascus, as well as two luxury hotels located nearby, as part of its campaign against United States interests in the region.

Fars News Agency on March 26 reported that “Israeli, American and British advisors and experts” were present at the People’s Palace, the residence of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, in addition to the Four Seasons Hotel and the Sheraton Damascus Hotel.

The Iranian semi-official said that Iran had issued an ultimatum to hotel owners throughout the Middle East and the wider region, warning them not to accommodate foreign military personnel, adding that they would be “considered legitimate military targets” if they did not comply.

In the same report, Fars also claimed that U.S. forces had sought refuge in hotels in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, adding that Iran had sent a “firm warning” to hotel owners, particularly in those two Gulf countries, not to host them.

It added that Iranian intelligence believe that a U.S. logistics base at Beirut Airport in Lebanon had become “active” and that U.S. marines had recently been transported to an air base at Djibouti International Airport in East Africa.

Following these threats, the U.S. embassy in Syria issued a security alert warning American citizens in Damascus to prepare to “shelter in place”,

The alert said that Iran had previously attacked civilian facilities across the Middle East, and that similar threats were now being reported in Syria. It also noted that some organizations have already relocated staff away from hotels in Damascus as a precaution.

Syria has not outright supported the American-Israeli war on Iran, which began around a month ago, but it has repeatedly condemned retaliatory strikes by the Islamic Republic targeting facilities hosting or supporting the U.S. military in Arab countries.

The country has no control over its airspace, which is one of the main routes the U.S. and Israel are using to launch strikes against Iran.

Soon after the start of the war, multiple reports speculated that Sharaa will attack Iran allies in Lebanon or Iraq. Despite official denial by Syria, this led to some serious tensions.

On March 23, rockets fired from Iraq hit a base recently handed over from U.S. forces to Syrian government forces close to Ramelan, the country’s largest oil field, in the northeastern governorate of al-Haskah.

Later on March 28, a drone was reportedly shot down over al-Tanf base in the southeastern governorate of Rif Dimashq — also handed over from U.S. forces to Syrian government forces earlier this year. The drone, an Iranian-made Shahed-101, was reportedly also launched from Iraq.

Tensions are clearly building up between Syria and Iran. The latest threats indicate that the Islamic Republic is planning to launch strikes against Damascus very soon. There is little that Damascus could do, and it is unlikely that the U.S. and Israel will provide any meaningful protection.

Furthermore, any Syrian response against Iran allies in Lebanon and Iraq could provoke an even more serious reaction from the Islamic Republic, which could easily take out the country’s war-torn infrastructure.

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