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The Israeli ambassador to the UN revealed earlier this week a photo of an alleged Iranian base near Damascus, holding up to 80,000 fighters.

In response, Israel insisted the country would launch a military strike to prevent Tehran from launching a ground invasion across the nearby border.

Ambassador Danny Danon presented the aerial photograph on Thursday, telling the UN Security Council: "There are over 80,000 extremists from all over the Middle East who are members of Shia militias in Syria under Iranian control.

"It is at this base, just over five miles from Damascus, where these dangerous extremists are trained and then assigned their missions of terror throughout Syria and the region."