Syrian opposition sources said the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has approved the deployment of the Iranian-origin Shihab-3 in a military base near Homs in northwestern Syria. The sources said the base was taken over by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for missile deployment as well as training.

The Washington-based Reform Party of Syria said IRGC was given complete control of the Syrian military base. RPS said there was no Syrian presence detected in the facility.

"There is no Syrian presence at the base, which makes it a fully operational foreign base and the first of its kind in the country," RPS, based on intelligence reports from Syria, said.

RPS said the new IRGC base was located less than 50 kilometers from Lebanon. A Syrian opposition source said at least one Shihab-3 battery was detected.

"It is believed that the base is armed with the second generation of the Shihab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles with a range of 2,100 kilometers. able to hit major metropolises in the Middle East including Israel," RPS said.

The sources said the IRGC presence in Syria was meant to help prepare for another war with Israel. They said IRGC was also using Syria as a base for an attack on U.S. interests in the Middle East.

"Take a look at the map," a Syrian opposition source said. "You can hit a lot more of Western Europe, including U.S. military bases, from northern Syria than from Iran."

Iran was said to have made significant inroads in Lebanon and Syria. The sources said IRGC has been training and helping protect the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad as Iran has opened Shi'ite centers throughout his country.

At the same time, Iran has been purchasing huge tracts of land in central and southern Lebanon in preparation of another war with Israel. The land has been developed for Hizbullah deployment of weapons, missiles and training bases north of the Litani River.