The Syrian opposition website Ayn Al-Furat (“Eye of Euphrates”) asserts in an “exclusive” article on Thursday that Iran is constructing “a large base to hold advanced weapons” close to Ayn Ali, in the Deir Al-Zour region of eastern Syria.

According to a report by MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM), exclusively shared with JNS, the article states that like the Imam Ali base, recently established by Iran in the desert near Al-Bukamal, the new base is being built in the desert as well, where the “second-largest concentration of Iranian forces in eastern Syria” is located.

Thirty officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of various ranks and expertise arrived in the area recently on a flight from Damascus to the military airfield in Deir Al-Zour.

Under strong security, the IRGC has also brought in heavy construction equipment from Al-Bukamal and Al-Mayadin, and has also reportedly begun prepping the site for the base’s construction.

According to the JTTM report, it intends to construct underground storage facilities for the weapons that regularly enter from Iraq, hidden either in refrigerated trucks for agricultural produce or in buses carrying pilgrims to Shi’ite holy sites in Syria. The IRGC is also constructing a tunnel network connecting all of the weaponry and missile facilities in the Ayn Ali area.

Additionally, the militias constructed “a large security compound” in the Ayn Ali area with dozens of positions armed with heavy weaponry and ground-to-ground missiles.