An Israeli airstrike appears to have hit the Syrian port of Latakia, destroying a large Iranian weapons cache, media reports say. The strike, which took place early morning Tuesday, caused multiple fires and secondary blasts, suggesting the presence of explosives in containers stored at the port.
In recent weeks, this is the second strike on Latakia, Syria’s most significant post. “Israel launched an air strike on Syria’s main port of Latakia on Tuesday in the second such attack this month, the Syrian army said, setting ablaze the container storage area where two port sources said Iran has been storing munitions,” Reuters reported.
The Iranian regime uses the port to supply arms to the Hezbollah terrorist militia. Tehran has been “using the terminal to transport advanced munitions through it to its proxies in the region, notably the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group,” the Times of Israel noted.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not respond to the media reports in keeping with its policy of not commenting on alleged operations abroad.
The Associated Press reported the details of the supposed Israeli strike:
Satellite images taken this week over the Syrian port of Latakia show the smoldering wreckage after a reported Israeli missile strike, hours after firefighters contained a massive blaze.The raid launched from the Mediterranean Sea Tuesday was among the biggest launched by Israel into Syria, igniting a fire in the container terminal that raged for hours and caused significant material damage in the vicinity. It damaged a nearby hospital and offices, and also shattered windows of residential buildings and cars parked in the area near the port. The explosion could be heard miles away.It was the second such attack on the facility this month.The Latakia seaport handles most of the imports to Syria, a country ravaged by a decade-old civil war and Western-imposed sanctions. Another attack took place Dec. 7, when Syrian media reported Israeli warplanes hit the container terminal, also igniting a major fire.Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press from Planet Labs PBC Thursday showed heavy smog over the container terminal on Wednesday, likely from the struck container still smoking. The images suggest it was a high precision strike that appeared to hit one container.
Russians failed to prevent the strike despite having a large airbase in Latakia. Syrian supporters of Bashar al-Assad’s regime were angered at the Russians for not engaging the warplanes involved in the raid. News reports indicate that Moscow has stationed its most advanced S-400 air-defense system in the area.
“Syrian social media users expressed outrage on Tuesday that Russia did not activate air defense systems to counter the alleged Israeli airstrikes. An article on Al-Mayadeen TV about the airstrikes also questioned why the Russian forces did not respond to the airstrikes,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
Alongside Iran and its proxy terror militias, Russia has provided military support to the Assad regime since the civil war started ten years ago.
Tuesday’s strikes come as Iran threatens Israel with a large-scale missile attack. Earlier this month, the Iranian regime-affiliated newspaper, the Tehran Times, released a list of Israeli targets that Iran intends to hit in case of a military conflict.
Iran uses its proxy terrorist group Hezbollah to create forward missile bases in Syria and Lebanon. Tehran has supplied the Shia-jihadist militia with long-range and precision-guided missiles capable of hitting targets across Israel.
Jerusalem has vowed to take countermeasures against the deployment of advanced Iranian weaponry near its borders. “Israel will not allow Iran to stream game-changing weapons to its proxies and to threaten our citizens,” the country’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said following Tuesday’s strike.
While the Biden administration is busy coaxing the Mullahs back into the Obama-era deal, they threaten Israel with a nuclear strike. On Friday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) simulated a mock drone and missile strike at Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor. As part of the drill, the Iranian military also fired several long-range ballistic missiles, many of them capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The Israeli intelligence services and the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA believe Iran can acquire the nuclear bomb. “Israel has been sharing intelligence with the United States showing that Iran is preparing to enrich uranium to weapons-grade 90 percent purity,” the Times of Israel reported recently, citing Hebrew-language media sources.
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