{"id":42138,"date":"2019-12-11T14:17:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T14:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/11\/congress-is-worried-about-an-iranian-threat-to-a-small-garrison-of-us-commandos-in-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:43:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:43:52","slug":"congress-is-worried-about-an-iranian-threat-to-a-small-garrison-of-us-commandos-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/11\/congress-is-worried-about-an-iranian-threat-to-a-small-garrison-of-us-commandos-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress is worried about an Iranian threat to a small garrison of US commandos in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Congress wants a report from the intelligence community and the Pentagon about the threat posed by Iran and its militias to a small garrison of special operators near the Iraq-Syria border known as al-Tanf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Tanf houses a handful of American commandos who are tasked with training an anti-ISIS force dubbed Maghaweir Thowra. But national security experts have oft argued the garrison\u2019s existence is meant to check Iranian influence and block a highway that could push arms from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located in a remote desert outpost in southern Syria near the Jordanian border, al-Tanf is far removed from the majority of the anti-ISIS fight raging in northern Syria \u2014 instead it\u2019s been the scene of deadly clashes between U.S. forces and Iranian and Syrian regime backed militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. maintains a 55 km security bubble around the base and American forces have used deadly force in the past to protect the installation \u2014 raining down rocket artillery known as HIMARS and airstrikes on Iranian-backed militias who encroached the security zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress now wants the Department of Defense and Director of National Intelligence to compile a report about the threat Iran and its militias pose to the garrison at Tanf, and also the threat of these groups to U.S. partner forces operating in northern Syria, according to the annual defense legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t