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Russia and the Syrian government warned the US in early September that they planned to carry out counterterrorism operations near a key US garrison in southeastern Syria known as al-Tanf, where several hundred Marines have been stationed since at least 2016.

But the US responded with a live-fire exercise, and the Russians backed down.

In fact, the al-Tanf garrison has long drawn the ire of Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus but all they've been able to do is complain about it.

The Russian state-owned media outlet Sputnik quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem as saying late last month that the US was "gathering the remnants of the Islamic State at this base in order to later send them wage war on the Syrian army."

Late last year, Russian Gen. Valery Gerasimov told Russia's Pravda that satellite and other surveillance data indicated "terrorist squads" were stationed at al-Tanf and that terrorists were "effectively training there."

Iran's Press TV cited Gerasimov's quote in an article published this past June titled "US forces training terrorists at 19 camps inside Syria: Russian expert."

Without any real evidence, US adversaries have lobbed many rhetorical attacks against the US forces accusing them of harboring or training terrorists at al-Tanf.

Damascus and Russian state-owned media even claimed in June that the US was preparing a "false flag" chemical attack at al-Tanf "identical to the kind that took place in Douma."

"The U.S. led Coalition is here to defeat ISIS, first and foremost, and that is the objective of the presence at al-Tanf," US Army Col. Sean Ryan, a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, told Business Insider in an email.

"No U.S. troops have trained ISIS and that is just incorrect and misinformation, it is truly amazing some people think that," Ryan said.

The US has trained Syrian rebels at al-Tanf, namely a group called Maghawir al Thawra. Omar Lamrani, a senior military analyst at Stratfor, told Business Insider the group was "fairly secular by regional standards and has been at the forefront of the fight against ISIS."

Lamrani further described the idea that the US is training the Islamic State or like-minded groups at al-Tanf as "certainly absurd."

"To the Russians and Iranians, almost any group fighting against the Syrian government can be labeled a terrorist group," Lamrani said.

So why do Russia, Iran, and the Syrian government care so much about this garrison?

"I'd say that the primary reasons why Iran cares about it so much is, again, it blocks the Baghdad-Damascus highway," Lamrani said. Tehran uses the highway to transport weapons to the Syrian capital of Damascus, where the government is based.

"The reason they want the land route is that it's easier to bring [weapons] across land in greater quantities, and the shipping route is very vulnerable to Israeli interception, and the air route is expensive and often gets hit by Israeli airstrikes," Lamrani added.

Moscow, on the other hand, is upset about al-Tanf, according to Lamrani, because "it's the last area in Syria where the United States is involved with rebels on the ground that are not Syrian Democratic Forces."

The Russians and the Syrian government have "open channels" with the SDF and want to negotiate not fight with them, Lamrani added.

But Moscow, Tehran, and the Syrian government's ire might go beyond just stymieing the flow of weapons to Damascus and training rebels.

"There's a history at that garrison at al-Tanf," Max Markusen, an associate director and associate fellow of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Business Insider.

"I think that the Syrian regime, the Russians and Iranians, would see it as a [symbolic] victory if the United States pulled out of there than just sort of tactical level objectives," Markusen said, adding that there's much resentment for the US having trained rebels at al-Tanf.

But they haven't sought to use force to expel US troops because "the costs of escalation are too high," Markusen said.

So they're relegated to discrediting the al-Tanf garrison.

Going forward, "we will continue to see an escalation of rhetoric," Markusen said, but "I don't think there's going to be a major outbreak of conflict."

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A US base in Syria is a huge thorn in Russia and Iran's side ...

Erin Cunningham

Middle East reporter covering Iran, Turkey, Syria and the wider region

ISTANBUL Iran on Monday launched missile strikes on what it said were Sunni Islamic extremist hideouts in eastern Syria, a move it portrayed as retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack on an Iranian military parade last month.

Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired six medium-range missiles into Syria from bases in western Iran at 2 a.m. local time, striking east of the Euphrates River and killing and wounding several militants. It said its combat drones then targeted the sites.

A statement on the Guards website described those killed as takfiri terrorists, a term it often uses to refer to the Islamic State. The militant group still holds pockets of territory in Syrias Deir al-Zour province, where U.S. troops are assisting local fighters to defeat the extremists.

The strikes against the Islamic State on Monday, however, came even as Iran had blamed local Arab separatists for last months attack in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. At a military parade Sept.22, gunmen killed at least two dozen people, including a 4-year-old boy. Iran identified the five perpetrators as residents of Ahvaz.

But both the Islamic State and a local separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack. Iran accused regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of supporting the local Arab nationalists, who have fought for autonomy from Irans mainly ethnic Persian population.

Irans show of strength Monday appeared to be more about sending a message to its adversaries in the region and abroad than targeting those responsible for the assault.

At least four of the missiles landed in the Hajin area of eastern Syria, where the Islamic State is still active, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Revolutionary Guard said the missiles traveled some 350 miles from Irans Kermanshah province to their targets in Syria. Iran, however, commands a number of loyal proxy forces in Syria that are stationed nearby.

The strikes also capped a week of Iranian diplomacy at the United Nations, where President Hassan Rouhani sought to rally European and other nations to oppose stepped-up U.S. efforts to target Iran.

According to Henry Rome, Iran associate at the Eurasia Group risk analysis firm, Rouhani did not want an Iranian retaliation to dominate conversations at the United Nations.

It is the second time in a month that Iran has fired medium-range ballistic missiles at militant groups in Syria and Iraq. Last month, Iran fired missiles at Kurdish militants based in Iraq.

Bijan Sabbagh contributed to this report.

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NEW YORK The European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said on Wednesday a so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under consideration to facilitate trade with Iran could be in place "before November."

4:04pm EDT

GENEVA Laughter during U.S. President Donald Trump's speech to the U.N. General Assembly was a sign of the United States' isolation, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday, Fars News reported.

LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May lobbied for the release of detained British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe during a meeting on Tuesday with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, May's office said.

GENEVA/LONDON An attack on a military parade in Iran is a blow to the image of its Revolutionary Guards, but the elite force could yet turn the bloodshed to its advantage, using public sympathy to bolster itself at the expense of President Hassan Rouhani.

GENEVA U.S. President Donald Trump should stop interfering in the Middle East if he wants the price of oil to stop rising, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani exchanged taunts at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday with Trump vowing more sanctions against Tehran and Rouhani suggesting his American counterpart suffers from a "weakness of intellect." |Video

UNITED NATIONS A senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official warned European powers on Tuesday that it was offering Iran a glimmer of hope by trying to keep trade flowing, but that ultimately they would fall behind the United States' tough approach on Tehran.

UNITED NATIONS White House national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday dismissed an EU plan for a special payments plan to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil sales and pressed the SWIFT global payments messaging system to rethink dealing with Tehran.

UNITED NATIONS Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday criticized Washington for its hostile policy toward his country and said the U.S. approach was doomed to failure.

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Reuters Iran - Official Site

"The enemy is waiting for an opportunity, for a flaw, through which they can enter. Look at these events over the last few days. All those who are against the Islamic Republic -- those who have money, those who have the politics, those who have the weapons, those who have the intelligence -- they have all joined forces in order to create problems for the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution," he said, without naming any particular country.

The US ambassador to the United Nations said any assertions that the protests are designed by Iran's enemies are "complete nonsense," and that the US would ask Security Council members for an emergency session in New York and the Human Rights Council in Geneva to discuss the protests "in the days ahead."

The protests have become the biggest challenge to the Iranian government's authority since mass demonstrations in 2009. About 450 people have been arrested over the past three days, according to state media.

The rallies began Thursday over the country's stagnant economy and rising living costs, but they developed into a broader outcry against the government and intensified over the weekend. Many of the protesters are young Iranians tired of the lack of economic opportunity in the country.

Protesters hit the streets for a sixth straight day Tuesday. Small protests -- not as large as previous days -- appeared in pockets of the capital, Tehran, a CNN producer there reported.

Video on social media appeared to show police officers and demonstrators clashing Tuesday evening in the south-central city of Shiraz. In the video, people scatter through streets amid the sounds of yelling and honking car horns. CNN couldn't immediately independently verify the video's authenticity.

Of the nine people killed Monday, seven were protesters. Six of them died in the central city of Qahdarijan when demonstrators stormed a police station and attempted to take guns from authorities, state media reported. The seventh protester was killed in nearby Khomaini Shahr.

A police officer died in Najafabad after a protester shot at officers with a hunting rifle, according to state media. Three other officers were wounded. A member of the Basij, a pro-government militia, was also killed, in south Tehran.

Video images shared on social media from the central city of Tuyserkan on Sunday showed protesters throwing chairs, tables and other objects at riot police, forcing the outnumbered officers to retreat. Six protesters were shot dead in the unrest there, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

A man and his young son also died on Sunday when a fire truck hijacked by protesters ran them down on a street in western Iran's Dorud, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Twelve people were killed over the weekend.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday tried to downplay the significance of the protests, which have spread beyond the capital of Tehran to at least 18 cities, claiming that "This is nothing" compared to other outbreaks of unrest.

But authorities have nonetheless responded with mass arrests and by restricting the use of the social media apps Instagram and Telegram, used to organize the rallies.

The US State Department said it is encouraging tech companies to try to keep such sites accessible in Iran.

"The message: We want to encourage the protesters to continue to fight for what's right and to open up Iran," Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy Steve Goldstein said.

There also are now concerns that some protesters could face the death penalty.

Musa Ghazanfarabadi, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Court, said that some protest ringleaders could be charged with "muharabeh" -- taking up arms against the state -- and accused them of being connected with foreign intelligence agencies, the semi-official Tasnim news reports. The crime carries a maximum sentence of death.

The Association of Combatant Clerics -- an Iranian reformist group led b Khatami -- acknowledged that Iranians face "livelihood, economic, political, and social problems and difficulties" and said they have the right "to express and even shout their demands legally and through civil protests."

It also called on the government "to listen to the voice of the nation and pave the way for resolving the problems and meeting their rightful demands."

But it also accused the United States of encouraging the violence.

"The grudge-holding and sworn enemies of the nation of Iran, with the US at the top... came to support the rioters and their violent actions," a statement by the group read.

"The bitter events of recent days showed that opportunistic and trouble making elements pursue the dirty agenda of the enemies, by abusing the quiet gatherings and protests of the people, creating riots and insecurity, damaging public property, insulting religious and national values, and even killing innocent people."

The association, with Khatami at the helm, led protests in Iran after disputed election results in 2009.

Foreign Minister Zarif tweeted that Iran would not allow "infiltrators" to sabotage protests.

"Iran's security and stability depend on its own people, who -- unlike the peoples of of Trumps regional 'bffs' -- have the right to vote and to protest," Zarif tweeted. "These hard-earned rights will be protected, and infiltrators will not be allowed to sabotage them through violence and destruction."

Rouhani discussed the protests and terrorism in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In a statement on the President's website, Rouhani told Macron that a terrorist group based in Paris is "provoking and persuading people to take violent actions in Iran."

"We expect the French government to take its legal responsibility to combat terrorism and violence," the website statement said.

Trump has repeatedly tweeted his support for the protesters in the past week, criticizing the Iranian government as repressive, "brutal and corrupt."

Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani accused the US, UK and Saudi Arabia of using hashtags and social media campaigns inside Iran to incite riots.

"Based on our analyses, around 27% of the new hashtags against Iran are generated by the Saudi government," Shamkhani said, according to state-run Press TV.

The UK has called on Iran to engage in a "meaningful debate" on the issues raised by protesters, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said.

Trump faces a mid-January deadline when he must decide about renewing temporary waivers for US sanctions against Iran.

CNN's Eliza Mackintosh, Alanne Orjoux, Marilia Brocchetto, Roba Alhenawi, Tamara Qiblawi, Jennifer Hauser, Sarah Faidell, Sarah Sirgany, Deborah Bloom, Michelle Kosinski and Laura Koran contributed to this report.

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Iran protests: Supreme Leader blames nation's 'enemies' - CNN

Iran has been a party to the since 1970, and has an advanced nuclear program that was the subject of international negotiations and from 2002 until implementation of a comprehensive nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) began in 2016. The United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA on 8 May 2018, leaving its future in doubt.

Iran is not a member of the , and is actively working to acquire, develop, and deploy a broad range of and capabilities. The scope and status of Iran's and activities are unknown, but the most recent Western intelligence estimates have downgraded the likelihood that Iran maintains significant offensive chemical and biological weapons programs.

Mohamed Reza Shah initiated Iran's nuclear program during the 1950s with assistance from the U.S. Program. Establishing the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) in 1974, the Shah had ambitious plans to construct 20 nuclear power , a facility, and a plant for . [1] However, after the 1979 Iranian Revolution deposed the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini deemed the nuclear program "un-Islamic" and ordered it terminated. In 1984, Khomeini reversed course on the issue of and sought international partners to continue building the Bushehr reactors. [2] Currently, Iran has complete nuclear fuel cycle capabilities including mining, milling, conversion, and enrichment facilities. [3] Iran's extensive enrichment program, which could be used to produce for a nuclear weapon, has been particularly controversial. At its 2015 peak, the program comprised nearly 20,000 gas centrifuges at 3 major facilities. [4]

The Board of Governors found Iran in non-compliance with its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement in 2005, and the passed seven resolutions demanding that Iran halt its enrichment and reprocessing activities. Beginning in 2002, Iran, the IAEA, and various groupings of world powersfirst with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (the EU-3), and later accompanied by China, Russia, and the United States (the )made numerous attempts to negotiate a settlement to the dispute. [5] Negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran yielded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in July 2015, a comprehensive 25-year nuclear agreement limiting Iran's nuclear capacity in exchange for sanctions relief. On 16 January 2016, all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were lifted in response to its progress meeting key metrics of the deal. [6]

U.S. President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to "dismantle the deal with Iran," however, the Administration initially upheld the deal. [7] On 8 May 2018, President Trump officially withdrew the United States from the JCPOA and announced the imminent re-imposition of all nuclear-related sanctions. He alleged that the deal was defective at its core, citing Iranian support for terrorism and pursuit of ballistic missiles (despite the fact these are not material to the terms of the JCPOA), as well as a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleging that Iran had concealed details of its early-2000s nuclear weapons efforts from the international community. [8] Notably, President Trump did not claim that Iran had violated any specific terms of the agreement. Iran has expressed a willingness to remain in the JCPOA despite the U.S. withdrawal, and all other P5+1 states reiterated their commitment to full implementation of the deal. [9]

There is very little publicly available information to determine whether Iran has bought biological weapons. Iran acceded to the in 1929 and the in 1973. However, the U.S. government has accused Iran in the past of pursuing a biological weapons program. More recent U.S. intelligence estimates do not suggest that such a program currently exists. In its most recent unclassified report to Congress on the subject the U.S. Director of National Intelligence assessed that Iran "probably has the capability to produce some biological warfare (BW) agents for offensive purposes, if it made the decision to do so. [] Iran continues to expand its biotechnology infrastructure and seek technologies that could be used for BW." [10] This qualified assessment likely indicates that U.S intelligence does not have conclusive evidence of a current Iranian BW program. Historically, Iran has denied the acquisition or production of biological weapons.

Iran suffered severe losses from Iraq's use of chemical weapons between 1982 and 1988 during the Iran-Iraq War. Consequently, Iran has significant experience with the effects of chemical warfare (CW). Iran ratified the in November 1997 and has been an active participant in the work of the . Iran has publicly acknowledged the existence of a chemical weapons program developed during the latter stages of the 1980 to 1988 war with Iraq. After ratifying the CWC in 1997, Iran opened its facilities to international inspection and claimed that all its offensive CW activities had been terminated and the facilities destroyed prior to the treaty's .

Nevertheless, throughout the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the United States claimed that Iran maintained an active program for the development and production of chemical weapons. This program was alleged to include stockpiles of , , , and possibly , although U.S. intelligence agencies did not publicly provide evidence for these allegations. [11] Since 2003, the U.S. intelligence community has substantially downgraded its public assessments of Iranian chemical warfare capabilities. In its most recent unclassified report to Congress on the subject, the Director of National Intelligence asserted that Iran "maintains the capability to produce chemical warfare (CW) agents and conducts research that may have offensive applications." [12] Iran denies producing or possessing chemical weapons in violation of its treaty obligations.

Following the Iran-Iraq war, Iran committed itself to the development of one of the most sophisticated programs in the Middle East. Iran has pursued a dual-track strategy, developing both liquid and solid-fueled systems. [13] While Iran's program was initially dependent on foreign technical assistance, particularly from North Korea, Iran now likely has the indigenous capacity to develop, test, and build ballistic missiles. [14]

Iran's first ballistic missiles were Soviet -B and Scud-C models acquired from North Korea (renamed Shahab-1 and Shahab-2). [15] In 2003, Tehran deployed a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM), the Shahab-3, which is a derivative of North Korea's Nodong missile. [16] Since 2004, Iran has test-fired numerous variants of the Shahab-3, which were designed to increase its range, payload, and accuracy, including the Ghadr-1 and the Emad. [17] In 2008, Iran successfully tested the Sejjil, a two-stage, solid fueled MRBM. [18]

Visit the CNS Iran Missile and SLV Launch Database for a comprehensive visualization of all known Iranian missile launches since the Iran-Iraq War.

In addition to its missile program, Iran possesses a space launch capability. Iran has successfully launched several satellites aboard its the Safir, with reports of an attempted launch from the new Simorgh SLV. Many have expressed concern over the dual- use capabilities of these systems and their potential application for . [19]

Iran is not a member of the or the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation. In 2015, to support implementation of the JCPOA, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2231, which called on Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons." [20] The U.S., U.K., France, and Germany have claimed that Iran's subsequent ballistic missile tests were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" UNSCR 2231, with the U.S. imposing sanctions on Iran in response to its ballistic missile tests, most recently in 2017. [21]

Sources:[1] Judith Perera, "Iran's Nuclear Industry," Middle East and North Africa, January 2006.[2] "Iran's Nuclear Program: 1950s and 60s: Atoms for Peace," Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), http://www.isis-online.org.[3] "Iran's Nuclear Fuel Cycle," Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), http://www.isisnucleariran.org.[4] David Sanger and William Broad, "U.S. and Allies Warn Iran Over Nuclear 'Deception'," The New York Times, 25 September 2009, http://www.nytimes.com; "Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran," Report by the Director General, the International Atomic Energy Agency, 7 November 2011, http://www.iaea.org.[5] IAEA Press Release, "IAEA, Iran Sign Joint Statement on Framework for Cooperation," 11 November 2013, http://www.iaea.org.[6] "Secretary of State's Confirmation of IAEA Verification," U.S. Department of State, Accessed 1 March 2017, http://www.state.gov.[7] Gardiner Harris, "Tillerson Toughens Tone on Iran after U.S. Confirms Nuclear Deal Compliance," The New York Times, 19 April 2017, http://www.nytimes.com; Baker, Peter, "Trump Recertifies Iran Nuclear Deal, but Only Reluctantly," The New York Times, 17 July 2017, http://www.newyorktimes.com.[8] Remarks by President Trump on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, The White House, 8 May 2018, http://www.whitehouse.gov.[9] Parisa Hafezi, Rouhani Says Iran will Remain in Nuclear Deal without U.S., Reuters, 8 May 2018, http://www.reuters.com; Jeremy B. White, UK, France, and Germany Issue Joint Statement Attacking Trumps Withdrawal from Iran Nuclear Deal, UK Independent, 8 May 2018, http://www.independent.co.uk; Russia says no grounds to scrap Iran nuclear deal, Xinhua, May 8, 2018, http://www.xinhuanet.com.[10] Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, 1 January - 30 June 2002, Central Intelligence Agency, http://www.fas.org.[11] Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, Covering 1 January - 31 December 2011, Director of National Intelligence, http://www.fas.org.[12] Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, 1 January - 30 June 2002, Central Intelligence Agency, http://www.fas.org.[13] Joseph Cirincione, Jon Wolfsthal and Miriam Rajkumar, "Iran," in Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Threats (Washington, DC, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005), p. 295.[14] Paul Kerr, Steven Hildreth, Mary Beth Nitikin, Iran-North Korea-Syria Ballistic Missile and Nuclear Cooperation, Congressional Research Service, 26 February 2016, https://fas.org.[15] Iran's Ballistic Missile Capabilities: A Net Assessment, Dossier, London: IISS: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2010, pp. 14-17, 22.[16] Iran's Ballistic Missile Capabilities: A Net Assessment, London: IISS: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2010, pp. 17-22.[17] CSIS Missile Defense Project, "Shahab-3," https://missilethreat.csis.org.[18] Iran's Ballistic Missile Capabilities: A Net Assessment, Dossier, London: IISS: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2010, pp. 54-63; Ted Postol, "Technical Addendum to the Joint Threat Assessment on Iran's Nuclear and Missile Potential The Sejjil Ballistic Missile," EastWest Institute, 31 May 2009, http://www.ewi.info; "Sejil (Ashoura)," Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems, 12 February 2012, http://www.janes.com.[19] Bill Gertz, "Iran Conducts Space Launch," The Washington Free Beacon, 20 April 2016, freebeacon.com.[20] Security Council, Adopting Resolution 2231 (2015), Endorses Joint Comprehensive Agreement on Iran's Nuclear Programme - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, http://www.un.org.[21] Louis Charbonneau, "Exclusive: Iran missile tests were 'in defiance of' U.N. resolution U.S., allies," Reuters, 30 March 2016, ww.reuters.com;Michelle Kelemen, "U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Iran in Response to Missile Test," NPR, 3 February 2017, http://www.npr.org.

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Iran Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, and Missile Weapons ...