A Western intelligence source and a Syrian military defector told the news agency that Tehran has begun flying small arms and other military supplies on regular civilian flights. The supplies carried include precision missiles, night vision equipment and UAVs, all of which are small enough to be loaded onto civilian planes, they said. Iran is increasingly relying on flights as its previous land routes through Iraq have become unreliable amid regional wars and internal conflicts, the report said. Israel sees Iran’s expansion across Syria as a constant threat to its national security and has carried out raids on a wide range of targets in an effort to contain Iranian forces in the region. A regional diplomatic source told Reuters that Israeli intelligence had noted Iran’s increasing use of civilian airports to import military equipment and that recent airstrikes targeting airports appeared to signal a shift in Israeli strategy in the region. Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms “They started hitting infrastructure that the Iranians use to supply ammunition to Lebanon,” the source told Reuters. “In the past, it was just the supplies, but not the airport. Now, they fell on the catwalk.” The Reuters report said recent raids on airports in Aleppo and Damascus also appear to have been carried out to prevent the arrival of specific planes carrying weapons. This satellite photo released by Planet Labs PBC shows the damage after an Israeli strike targeted Aleppo International Airport, September 1, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) While Israel has declined to comment on specific airstrikes, military officials have acknowledged conducting them throughout Syria’s 11-year civil war. Earlier this year, airstrikes attributed to Israel caused extensive damage to Damascus International Airport, disrupting air traffic for two weeks. The Syrian defector told Reuters that as a result, Iran moved its missions to Aleppo airport, prompting Israel’s alleged strike there on Wednesday. Nawar Shaaban, an analyst at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, also told Reuters that the location of the Israeli airstrikes shed light on the expansion of Iranian influence in Syria. While the strikes previously targeted Damascus and the surrounding military zones, the strikes on destinations further afield, such as Aleppo and the Syrian coast, show which areas Israel assesses as potential threats. “The dangerous thing is that when we look at these areas that are affected, it tells us that Iran has spread further,” Saban said. “Every time we see a strike hit a new area, the reaction is, ‘Wow, Israel hit there.’ But what we should be saying is, ‘Wow, Iran is there,’” he added. A fire is reportedly seen at Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria after an airstrike attributed to Israel, August 31, 2022. (Social Media) While the IDF spokesman declined to comment on specific events, in line with Israeli policy, it has acknowledged several attacks in the area. A satellite image taken on Thursday showed damage at Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria. The image, taken by Planet Labs PBC and provided by Aurora Intel, appeared to show a burned area near the end of the runway. The strike tore a hole in the runway, as well as a fire at the airport. However, planes continued to land at the airport throughout Thursday. According to Aurora Intel, an Iranian cargo plane had landed at Aleppo airport several hours before the strike. It was unclear whether the plane, or the cargo it was carrying, had been hit in the attack. Also Thursday, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad issued a stark warning to Israel about the airstrikes. He said Israel was “playing with fire” and risking a wider military conflict, according to Arab media reports. On Friday, an Arab newspaper reported that Russia had asked Iran and its militias to withdraw from positions across Syria, amid an apparent increase in airstrikes attributed to Israel. A-Sharq Al-Awsat, a Saudi newspaper published in London, quoted Syrian officials as saying that Russian officers called on their Iranian counterparts during a meeting on Wednesday at the Hama military airport in central Syria to leave several locations in the country. The report said the calls came as Russia seeks to maintain stability in Syria and deprive Israel of targets to bomb areas Russia considers important. An airstrike attributed to Israel last month hit several Iranian sites near Russia’s main naval base in Syria, the port city of Tartus. You are a devoted reader We are really glad that you read X Times of Israel articles last month. That’s why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. So now we have a request. Unlike other media, we have not set up a paywall. But because the journalism we do is expensive, we invite readers to whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. For just $6 a month you can support our quality journalism by enjoying Times of Israel ADS-FREE, as well as access to exclusive content available only to members of the Times of Israel Community. Thank you, David Horowitz, founding editor of the Times of Israel Join our community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
