BEIRUT — Missile strikes on Syrian government bases overnight killed dozens of pro-regime forces, raising the risks of a wider regional war just weeks after Israel was blamed for hitting an air station in the country used by Iranian elite forces.

“Enemy missiles” targeted military bases in Aleppo and Hama, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Monday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 27 people, most of them Iranians, were killed in Hama. There were no immediate details about casualties in Aleppo.

Footage circulated on social media showed a large fireball, purportedly from an explosion at a military base in Hama believed to house Iranian Revolutionary Guards forces. The base in Aleppo is also widely thought to be used by Iranian forces and allied militias.

Syrian media close to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said photos from the site revealed Israel as being behind the attack, purportedly using GBU-39 bombs fired by F-35 jet fighters. Israeli military declined to comment, in line with a policy of neither confirming nor denying strikes in Syria.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

How bad is the labor shortage? Cities will pay you to move there.

Weapons training likely causes brain injury in troops, study finds.</s>A number of Syrian military bases in Hama and Aleppo were struck by “hostile missiles” fired by an identified enemy on Sunday night, Syrian state media reported.

 

 At least 26 troops loyal to Assad’s regime, mostly Iranians, were killed in the attack, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor, said.

 

 A weapons cache storing surface-to-surface missiles in northern Syria was targeted by during the air attack, which has been blamed on Israel, the SOHR said. 

 

 A salvo of nine ballistic missiles were fired by British and US forces from northern Jordan, Tishreen, a Syrian newspaper with close links to Assad, has claimed.

 

 But the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has dismissed allegations the RAF took part in the missile attack at around 10.30pm local time (8.30 GMT) on Sunday.

“Nothing has been launched by the RAF,” a spokesman told Daily Star Online.

 

 Britain does provide military training and support to Jordan’s air force in the fight against ISIS but there are no official RAF bases in the country.

 

 Military aircraft monitors said an RAF aerial refuelling tanker was spotted flying near north-west Syria just hours after the missile attack.

 

 The Airbus KC2 Voyager was tracked flying north-eastwards across the eastern Mediterranean after departing RAF Akrotiri, a large British military base on the island of Cyprus.

“Nothing has been launched by the RAF” “The Voyager was probably assisting RAF or other coalition jets operating there,” Yörük Işık, a Bosphorus-based military aircraft and naval observer told Daily Star Online.

 

 “It’s unknown if it was directly related to last night but there is increased activity over Syrian skies.”

 

 The US military is yet to comment on claims it was involved in the strike. 

 

 The stike comes just days after Britain, France and the US carried out bombing attacks on suspected chemical weapons facilities across Syria.

US President Donald Trump ordered the strikes in response to an alleged lethal chemical attack on rebels and civilians on Douma, Eastern Ghouta, on April 7.

 

 UK Prime Minister Theresa May supported the US by providing RAF planes without asking MPS for permission to do so.

 

 Sunday’s strike on military bases in Hama and Aleppo appears to have been carried out by Israel, according to Russian, Syrian and Iranian media reports.

 

 Israel is yet to comment on the accusations, which come amid an escalating war of words with Iran.

Tehran has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to back Assad’s forces in the country’s seven-year civil war.

 

 A missile attack on Syria’s T4 air base in central province of Homs earlier this month was blamed on Israel. Shortly after Sunday's missile strike, a 2.6 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the area, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. 

 

 “Some military sites in the countryside of Hama and Aleppo provinces were exposed at 10.30pm to a new aggression with hostile rockets,” a military source told Syrian Arab News Agency.

 

 No Iranians had been killed in the latest missile attacks, Iran's Tasnim news agency said on Monday.

 

 "All these reports over attack on an Iranian military base in Syria and the martyrdom of several Iranian military advisers in Syria are baseless," an official told Iran’s Tasnim news agency.</s>'Syria is being exposed to a new aggression with some military bases in rural Hama and Aleppo hit with enemy rockets,' an army source was quoted saying on Syrian state television.

The Syrian army announced that “enemy” rockets had struck military bases in Aleppo and Hama countryside, Reuters news agency reported today.

The attack was announced on Syria’s state television channel. An army source was quoted in a newsflash, briefly affirming that several bases had been struck.

An intelligence source told Reuters that multiple missile strikes hit several command centers for Iranian-backed militias, injuring and killing dozens. Another source said weapons warehouses were hit. The authenticity of these allegations has not been verified by the news agency.

Israel appears to have to “escalated its shadow war in Syria against Iran,” the New York Times wrote on April 9. A war-within-a-war, the conflict between Iran and Israel seems to be escalating in war-torn Syria. In early April, Israel hit Iranian-backed militia outposts in Syria, killing four Iranian military advisers. Iran is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as is Russia. This alliance is working to oppose American influence in the Middle East.

As the Inquisitr reported earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is currently touring the Middle East, held a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowing to “stand with Israel.”

President Donald Trump is threatening to pull out of the Iran deal, and Pompeo and Netanyahu have jointly announced that Iran “needs to be stopped.” Neither of them has mentioned Russia, but they have criticized the Russia-backed Syrian president.

According to another Reuters‘ source, one of the locations hit was an army base known as Brigade 47. Situated outside the city of Hama, the base is known as a recruitment center for Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias. These militias fight alongside Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

On April 7, more than 50 people were killed in a chemical weapon attack on rebel-held Douma. As ABC News noted, France has said that it has proof Bashar al-Assad’s regime used chemical weapons. In response to this, the United States and its allies, United Kingdom and France, launched air strikes targeting chemical weapon storage facilities and research centers.

The Times of Israel has also reported on the explosions near the Iranian militia base in Syria, claiming videos of explosions are already circulating on social media.</s>A missile strike targets Syrian military positions in the countrysides of Hama and Aleppo provinces on Sunday evening. (State TV photo)

DAMASCUS, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A missile strike targeted Syrian military positions in the countrysides of Hama and Aleppo provinces on Sunday evening, state TV reported.

While not revealing details on who was behind the missile strike, the TV aired a short footage of fire emerging from a site, saying "military sites in the countrysides of Hama and Aleppo have been subject to a new aggression with hostile missiles around 10:30 p.m."

Other reports said the Regiment 47 military base in Hama was targeted, causing big fire and sound of explosions that rocked Hama as the Syrian air defense also responded to the missile strike.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the targeted base contains also Iranian fighters, with other opposition activists in the area hailing the strike against the Syrian military positions in Hama.

Further details about the fresh missile strikes are still forthcoming but the missile strike comes as the Syrian army on Monday stripped the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of areas in the countryside of Deir al-Zour province in eastern Syria.

On April 14, the United States, Britain, and France launched a series of missile strikes on Syrian military positions in Syria in retaliation to an alleged toxic gas attack on the former rebel-held area east of Damascus.

The state TV has been airing interviews with local analysts speaking of how a new aggression is carried out against Syria every time the Syrian army scores progress on the ground, especially now that the Syrian army is closing in on the Islamic State (IS) group in the Hajar al-Aswad area south of Damascus.</s>The Syrian military said facilities in Hama and Aleppo provinces were struck, causing large explosions.

​With no one claiming responsibility for the strikes, there is speculation in Israel that its military was responsible.

The Syrian army has blamed only "aggression" by its enemies.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said no Iranian base had been hit or Iranians killed.

The missile strikes came as President Bashar al-Assad met a senior Iranian member of parliament on Monday.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who heads Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, said Iran would keep its military advisers in Syria until the war ended.</s>Missile strikes in Syria kill over a dozen, mostly Iranians

BEIRUT (AP) — A missile attack on government outposts in northern Syria killed more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians, a war monitoring group and an Iranian news agency said Monday. The strikes came amid soaring tensions between regional archenemies Israel and Iran.

There was no official confirmation of the death toll or what was the target. The Sunday night strikes sparked speculation on who carried it out, with most reports suspecting Israel was behind it.

Syrian state TV called it a "new aggression on military positions" in Hama and Aleppo provinces but was not specific. Activists said there was a spectacular explosion at an arms depot and military compounds where Iranian fighters are based. The explosion was large enough to be picked up by monitors as a magnitude 2.6 earthquake.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 pro-government fighters were killed, most of them Iranians, with only four Syrians among the dead. It said the arms depot contained surface-to-surface missiles belonging to Iranian militias in Hama province. Another attack hit near a military air base in Aleppo province, the Observatory said.

It added that the death toll could rise, since 60 fighters were wounded and several others remained missing.

A member of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia operating in Syria confirmed the attack on the Hama facility and put the death toll at 36, including 10 Iranian advisers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Iranian media gave conflicting reports: One semiofficial news agency said there were no Iranians killed, while a second one said 18 were killed.

The arms depot in Hama, known as Brigade 47, is one of the largest bases housing Iranian-affiliated forces and equipment, according to Jamil al-Saleh, commander in the opposition Tajammu al-Ezzat rebel group. He said the province has at least five other bases where Iranians are deployed alongside Syrian- allied militias.

The two airstrikes were near rebel areas, he added.

"It was like an earthquake hit Hama," al-Saleh said by telephone from Hama province. He and the Observatory said they suspect Israel was behind the attack.

Lebanon's Al-Akhbar daily, considered close to the militant Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and the Syrian government, said the attack targeted "important arms depots used by the (Syrian) army and Iran's Revolutionary Guards." It said the missiles used appear to have been bunker busters.

Syria-based opposition media activist Mohamad Rasheed said that base that came under attack is about 10 kilometers (7 miles) outside the city of Hama, adding that the airstrike led to several explosions in the arms depot. He added that the area is known as the Maarin Mountain or Mountain 47.

Some of the exploding missiles in the arms depot struck parts of Hama, Rasheed said, adding that residents near the base fled their homes. He said the base has been run by Iranian and Iran-backed fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Tehran has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar Assad's forces in the seven-year civil war.

Following the attacks, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the time when Tehran's enemies can "hit and run" is over, although he did not specifically refer to Sunday night's strikes.

"They know if they enter military conflict with Iran, they will be hit multiple times," he said in comments at a meeting with workers, according to his website.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which rarely confirms or denies its attacks.

The attack came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked by phone with President Donald Trump. The White House said they discussed the threats and challenges facing the Middle East, "especially the problems posed by the Iranian regime's destabilizing activities."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ratcheted up the Trump administration's rhetoric against Iran and offered support to Israel and Saudi Arabia in their standoff with Tehran.

"We remain deeply concerned about Iran's dangerous escalation of threats to Israel and the region and Iran's ambition to dominate the Middle East remains," Pompeo said after meeting Sunday with Netanyahu during his first trip abroad as the top U.S. diplomat. "The United States is with Israel in this fight."

Israel has cited Iran's hostile rhetoric, support for anti-Israel militant groups and development of long-range missiles.

The semiofficial Iranian news agency Tasnim, believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, denied any Iranian fighters were killed or that Iranian-run bases were hit. It quoted an unidentified Iranian informed official in its report but did not elaborate.

Another semiofficial news agency, ISNA, said the strike killed 18 Iranians, including a commander, in a suburb of the central city of Hama. It cited "local sources and activists." ISNA said the missiles targeted buildings and centers that likely included a weapons depot.

The Syrian government-owned Tishrin newspaper quoted what it called "sources on the ground" as saying that the attack in Aleppo and Hama provinces consisted of nine ballistic missiles fired from U.S.-British bases in northern Jordan. The report could not be independently confirmed.

A member of one of the Iranian-backed militias posted on Facebook that the strikes have "hit our bases" where "allies" are also present. He didn't elaborate, but said Israel was suspected of being behind the attack.

"We have been expecting an Israeli message for some time now to ensnare Iran in a direct confrontation with Israel, on Syrian territories," Kamal Fayyadh, a Lebanese living in Syria, wrote on his Facebook page.

In a nationally televised speech, Netanyahu said Israel recently uncovered 55,000 documents and 183 CDs of information from Iran's "nuclear archives" proving the Tehran government once had a nuclear weapons program.

He said the documents show that Iran lied about its nuclear ambitions before signing a 2015 deal with world powers. Iran has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.

Trump has set a May 12 deadline to decide whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal — something he appears likely to do despite heavy pressure to stay in from European and other parties.

Former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, who heads Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said Iran's robust military presence in Syria and Israel's determination to prevent it have put the two on a collision course at a time of tensions over the nuclear deal, Palestinian protests in Gaza and the expected U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem.

Tensions between Iran and Israel were running high following an airstrike earlier this month on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province that killed seven Iranian military personnel. Tehran has vowed to retaliate for that attack.

Syria, Iran and Russia blamed Israel for that attack. Israel did not confirm or deny it.

Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview published Thursday that his country will strike Iran if it attacks.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston contributed.</s>Missile strikes in Syria kill over a dozen, mostly Iranians

BEIRUT (AP) — A missile attack on government outposts in northern Syria killed more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians, a war monitoring group and an Iranian news agency said Monday. The strikes came amid soaring tensions between regional archenemies Israel and Iran.

There was no official confirmation of the death toll or what was the target. The Sunday night strikes sparked speculation on who carried it out, with most reports suspecting Israel was behind it.

Syrian state TV called it a "new aggression on military positions" in Hama and Aleppo provinces but was not specific. Activists said there was a spectacular explosion at an arms depot and military compounds where Iranian fighters are based. The explosion was large enough to be picked up by monitors as a magnitude 2.6 earthquake.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 pro-government fighters were killed, most of them Iranians, with only four Syrians among the dead. It said the arms depot contained surface-to-surface missiles belonging to Iranian militias in Hama province. Another attack hit near a military air base in Aleppo province, the Observatory said.

It added that the death toll could rise, since 60 fighters were wounded and several others remained missing.

A member of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia operating in Syria confirmed the attack on the Hama facility and put the death toll at 36, including 10 Iranian advisers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Iranian media gave conflicting reports: One semiofficial news agency said there were no Iranians killed, while a second one said 18 were killed.

The arms depot in Hama, known as Brigade 47, is one of the largest bases housing Iranian-affiliated forces and equipment, according to Jamil al-Saleh, commander in the opposition Tajammu al-Ezzat rebel group. He said the province has at least five other bases where Iranians are deployed alongside Syrian- allied militias.

The two airstrikes were near rebel areas, he added.

"It was like an earthquake hit Hama," al-Saleh said by telephone from Hama province. He and the Observatory said they suspect Israel was behind the attack.

Lebanon's Al-Akhbar daily, considered close to the militant Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and the Syrian government, said the attack targeted "important arms depots used by the (Syrian) army and Iran's Revolutionary Guards." It said the missiles used appear to have been bunker busters.

Syria-based opposition media activist Mohamad Rasheed said that base that came under attack is about 10 kilometers (7 miles) outside the city of Hama, adding that the airstrike led to several explosions in the arms depot. He added that the area is known as the Maarin Mountain or Mountain 47.

Some of the exploding missiles in the arms depot struck parts of Hama, Rasheed said, adding that residents near the base fled their homes. He said the base has been run by Iranian and Iran-backed fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Tehran has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar Assad's forces in the seven-year civil war.

Following the attacks, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the time when Tehran's enemies can "hit and run" is over, although he did not specifically refer to Sunday night's strikes.

"They know if they enter military conflict with Iran, they will be hit multiple times," he said in comments at a meeting with workers, according to his website.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which rarely confirms or denies its attacks.

The attack came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked by phone with President Donald Trump. The White House said they discussed the threats and challenges facing the Middle East, "especially the problems posed by the Iranian regime's destabilizing activities."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ratcheted up the Trump administration's rhetoric against Iran and offered support to Israel and Saudi Arabia in their standoff with Tehran.

"We remain deeply concerned about Iran's dangerous escalation of threats to Israel and the region and Iran's ambition to dominate the Middle East remains," Pompeo said after meeting Sunday with Netanyahu during his first trip abroad as the top U.S. diplomat. "The United States is with Israel in this fight."

Israel has cited Iran's hostile rhetoric, support for anti-Israel militant groups and development of long-range missiles.

The semiofficial Iranian news agency Tasnim, believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, denied any Iranian fighters were killed or that Iranian-run bases were hit. It quoted an unidentified Iranian informed official in its report but did not elaborate.

Another semiofficial news agency, ISNA, said the strike killed 18 Iranians, including a commander, in a suburb of the central city of Hama. It cited "local sources and activists." ISNA said the missiles targeted buildings and centers that likely included a weapons depot.

The Syrian government-owned Tishrin newspaper quoted what it called "sources on the ground" as saying that the attack in Aleppo and Hama provinces consisted of nine ballistic missiles fired from U.S.-British bases in northern Jordan. The report could not be independently confirmed.

A member of one of the Iranian-backed militias posted on Facebook that the strikes have "hit our bases" where "allies" are also present. He didn't elaborate, but said Israel was suspected of being behind the attack.

"We have been expecting an Israeli message for some time now to ensnare Iran in a direct confrontation with Israel, on Syrian territories," Kamal Fayyadh, a Lebanese living in Syria, wrote on his Facebook page.

In a nationally televised speech, Netanyahu said Israel recently uncovered 55,000 documents and 183 CDs of information from Iran's "nuclear archives" proving the Tehran government once had a nuclear weapons program.

He said the documents show that Iran lied about its nuclear ambitions before signing a 2015 deal with world powers. Iran has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.

Trump has set a May 12 deadline to decide whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal — something he appears likely to do despite heavy pressure to stay in from European and other parties.

Former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, who heads Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said Iran's robust military presence in Syria and Israel's determination to prevent it have put the two on a collision course at a time of tensions over the nuclear deal, Palestinian protests in Gaza and the expected U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem.

Tensions between Iran and Israel were running high following an airstrike earlier this month on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province that killed seven Iranian military personnel. Tehran has vowed to retaliate for that attack.

Syria, Iran and Russia blamed Israel for that attack. Israel did not confirm or deny it.

Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview published Thursday that his country will strike Iran if it attacks.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston contributed.</s>Update 2: Multiple early unconfirmed reports from journalists inside Syria have put casualties at 40 killed and 60 wounded, mainly from the Zaynabiyoun Iranian-backed group which was located at the 47th brigade supply base targeted in Hama.

In Aleppo 7 rockets were reported to have exploded in apparently empty areas around Aleppo international airport. There are no reports of injuries or deaths in Aleppo, but images show an area was clearly hit.

As we mentioned previously, the strikes produced a small earthquake as monitors in Lebanon and Turkey recorded seismic activity that registered over 2 on the Richter scale.

Neither Israel nor the United States has yet to formally acknowledge the sizable missile attack, and there’s some speculation in early Western media reporting that it could have been a U.S. coalition action, as it came the same day that pro-Syrian government militias clashed with US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.

Notably, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month his country will continue “to move against Iran in Syria,” and last Thursday Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed to strike at any attempt by Iran to establish a “military foothold” in Syria.

Update: Initial reports of mass injuries and perhaps casualties following the Iranian strike appear accurate, and as reporters on the ground located at the Hama National Hospital show, “civilians are donating blood for the Soldiers & Civilians who were wounded by the Israeli Air Strikes tonight.”

Syrian state news reports a possible foreign attack on military bases in Hama and Aleppo provinces, citing multiple reports and videos now circulating which show massive fireballs lighting up the night sky.

Dozens of pro-government social media accounts are claiming an Israeli strike on Brigade 47 weapons depot in Hama Sunday night. Syrian state media says rockets from an “unspecified enemy” hit military locations inside Syria, citing “a new aggression with hostile missiles” but stopped short of identifying the aggressor.

Danny Makki — a well-known journalist reporting from on the ground in Syria — also reports an official military source as saying “A hostile Foreign attack took place at locations in Hama and Aleppo at 10:30 local time tonight.”

Pro-rebel media also appears to be uploading footage of the strike — apparently so big it could be seen for miles — and these sources are also confirming a foreign military attack on government locations. Makki notes the airstrikes “caused an earthquake measuring 2.6 on the Richter scale.”

Iranian state media has also confirmed the strikes amidst rumors that Iranian military personnel were targeted in the attacks.

According to Makki, citing Middle East experts, the Israelis might “continue striking these different targets and there are between 20-25 targets to choose from so it will play out considerably.”

Should Israel be confirmed to have carried out the strikes, it would be the third such high level Israeli attack on Syria within a month.

Meanwhile according to unconfirmed Twitter reports, “dozens upon dozens” of Iranian soldiers were killed in the attack.

What is concering is that the attacks take place after Putin personally warned Netanyahu against further strikes in Syria.</s>Missile strikes in Syria kill over a dozen, mostly Iranians

BEIRUT (AP) — A missile attack on government outposts in northern Syria killed more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians, a war monitoring group and an Iranian news agency said Monday. The strikes came amid soaring tensions between regional archenemies Israel and Iran.

There was no official confirmation of the death toll or what was the target. The Sunday night strikes sparked speculation on who carried it out, with most reports suspecting Israel was behind it.

Syrian state TV called it a "new aggression on military positions" in Hama and Aleppo provinces but was not specific. Activists said there was a spectacular explosion at an arms depot and military compounds where Iranian fighters are based. The explosion was large enough to be picked up by monitors as a magnitude 2.6 earthquake.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 pro-government fighters were killed, most of them Iranians, with only four Syrians among the dead. It said the arms depot contained surface-to-surface missiles belonging to Iranian militias in Hama province. Another attack hit near a military air base in Aleppo province, the Observatory said.

It added that the death toll could rise, since 60 fighters were wounded and several others remained missing.

A member of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia operating in Syria confirmed the attack on the Hama facility and put the death toll at 36, including 10 Iranian advisers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Iranian media gave conflicting reports: One semiofficial news agency said there were no Iranians killed, while a second one said 18 were killed.

The arms depot in Hama, known as Brigade 47, is one of the largest bases housing Iranian-affiliated forces and equipment, according to Jamil al-Saleh, commander in the opposition Tajammu al-Ezzat rebel group. He said the province has at least five other bases where Iranians are deployed alongside Syrian- allied militias.

The two airstrikes were near rebel areas, he added.

"It was like an earthquake hit Hama," al-Saleh said by telephone from Hama province. He and the Observatory said they suspect Israel was behind the attack.

Lebanon's Al-Akhbar daily, considered close to the militant Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and the Syrian government, said the attack targeted "important arms depots used by the (Syrian) army and Iran's Revolutionary Guards." It said the missiles used appear to have been bunker busters.

Syria-based opposition media activist Mohamad Rasheed said that base that came under attack is about 10 kilometers (7 miles) outside the city of Hama, adding that the airstrike led to several explosions in the arms depot. He added that the area is known as the Maarin Mountain or Mountain 47.

Some of the exploding missiles in the arms depot struck parts of Hama, Rasheed said, adding that residents near the base fled their homes. He said the base has been run by Iranian and Iran-backed fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Tehran has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar Assad's forces in the seven-year civil war.

Following the attacks, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the time when Tehran's enemies can "hit and run" is over, although he did not specifically refer to Sunday night's strikes.

"They know if they enter military conflict with Iran, they will be hit multiple times," he said in comments at a meeting with workers, according to his website.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which rarely confirms or denies its attacks.

The attack came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked by phone with President Donald Trump. The White House said they discussed the threats and challenges facing the Middle East, "especially the problems posed by the Iranian regime's destabilizing activities."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ratcheted up the Trump administration's rhetoric against Iran and offered support to Israel and Saudi Arabia in their standoff with Tehran.

"We remain deeply concerned about Iran's dangerous escalation of threats to Israel and the region and Iran's ambition to dominate the Middle East remains," Pompeo said after meeting Sunday with Netanyahu during his first trip abroad as the top U.S. diplomat. "The United States is with Israel in this fight."

Israel has cited Iran's hostile rhetoric, support for anti-Israel militant groups and development of long-range missiles.

The semiofficial Iranian news agency Tasnim, believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, denied any Iranian fighters were killed or that Iranian-run bases were hit. It quoted an unidentified Iranian informed official in its report but did not elaborate.

Another semiofficial news agency, ISNA, said the strike killed 18 Iranians, including a commander, in a suburb of the central city of Hama. It cited "local sources and activists." ISNA said the missiles targeted buildings and centers that likely included a weapons depot.

The Syrian government-owned Tishrin newspaper quoted what it called "sources on the ground" as saying that the attack in Aleppo and Hama provinces consisted of nine ballistic missiles fired from U.S.-British bases in northern Jordan. The report could not be independently confirmed.

A member of one of the Iranian-backed militias posted on Facebook that the strikes have "hit our bases" where "allies" are also present. He didn't elaborate, but said Israel was suspected of being behind the attack.

"We have been expecting an Israeli message for some time now to ensnare Iran in a direct confrontation with Israel, on Syrian territories," Kamal Fayyadh, a Lebanese living in Syria, wrote on his Facebook page.

In a nationally televised speech, Netanyahu said Israel recently uncovered 55,000 documents and 183 CDs of information from Iran's "nuclear archives" proving the Tehran government once had a nuclear weapons program.

He said the documents show that Iran lied about its nuclear ambitions before signing a 2015 deal with world powers. Iran has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.

Trump has set a May 12 deadline to decide whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal — something he appears likely to do despite heavy pressure to stay in from European and other parties.

Former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, who heads Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said Iran's robust military presence in Syria and Israel's determination to prevent it have put the two on a collision course at a time of tensions over the nuclear deal, Palestinian protests in Gaza and the expected U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem.

Tensions between Iran and Israel were running high following an airstrike earlier this month on Syria's T4 air base in Homs province that killed seven Iranian military personnel. Tehran has vowed to retaliate for that attack.

Syria, Iran and Russia blamed Israel for that attack. Israel did not confirm or deny it.

Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview published Thursday that his country will strike Iran if it attacks.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston contributed.</s>"The arms depot of the 47th brigade of the Syrian army was attacked near Hama. Powerful explosions and major fire have occurred as a result," a source in Syria law enforcement told Sputnik.

The Syrian Sana news agency reported earlier that explosions had been heard near the cities of Hama and Aleppo.

According to the Surya TV channel, Syrian army positions have been attacked in a missile strike, conducted at approximately 19:30 GMT.

​Earlier, state television reported that successive blasts were heard in the rural Hama province and that authorities were investigating the cause.

Israel might be responsible for the attack, according to a report by Haaretz.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that Israel would continue to maintain that it had freedom of operation in Syria, cited by Haaretz.

“We have no intention to attack Russia or to interfere in domestic Syrian issues,” Lieberman said at an annual Jerusalem Post conference. “But if somebody thinks that it is possible to launch missiles or to attack Israel or even our aircraft, no doubt we will respond and we will respond very forcefully.”

Earlier this month, Israeli jets struck a Syrian air base, killing seven Iranian military advisers. Israel has warned it could hit Iranian bases in war-torn Syria should tensions with Tehran escalate, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Local residents in the Hama area told Reuters that the attacked bases were used by Iranian-backed forces.
Syrian state media, Syrian Arab News Agency, reports missile strikes have targeted military sites in the Hama Governorate and Aleppo Governorate. It is unclear who carried out the strikes.