Israel goes on high alert over Syria as Trump quits Iran deal

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel has instructed local authorities in the Israeli-held Golan Heights to “unlock and ready [bomb] shelters” after identifying what the military described on Tuesday as “irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria”.

The announcement came minutes before US President Donald Trump declared he was withdrawing from the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran, a move that has stirred concern about a possible regional flare-up.

Israeli media said the order to prepare bomb shelters was unprecedented during Syria’s seven-year-old civil war, in which Israel is formally neutral, though it has carried out cross-border strikes at suspected deployments by Iranian forces supporting Damascus and arms transfers to Hizbollah guerrillas.

Iran has blamed Israel for an April 9 strike that killed seven of its personnel at a Syrian airbase and has vowed revenge. 

In its statement, Israel’s occupation forces further said that its defence systems had been deployed “and IDF [Israel Defence Force] troops are on high alert for an attack”.