Alleged Israeli airstrike on Syrian base ‘destroyed… advanced weapon system element’

The attack, attributed to Israel, followed the arrival of aircraft from Iran, according to Image Sat International.

By World Israel News Staff

An airstrike on a Syrian base Sunday night attributed to Israel is said to have “destroyed… an advanced weapon system element,” according to satellite images released Tuesday by Image Sat International, an Israeli company which touts itself as a “global leader” in obtaining “high resolution satellite earth imagery and viable data analysis.”

The company released images of the same site from May 22 and June 4 to contrast the scene from before and after the airstrike.

The bombing of the Syrian T4 airbase, located near Homs, was a “pre-planned” attack that was meant to send a message to Iran, according to various Middle East experts.

Image Sat International confirms that the attack struck “nearby an apron which lately hosted aircraft arriving from Tehran, Iran.” The company called it an “accurate strike.”

The air attack “destroyed an element or a few, not an infrastructure,” of the weapon system, said the company’s statement.

“Since the attack targeted specific components, reasonably portable, it is assessed that [they] are of high importance,” the company said, adding that “such can be an advanced weapon system element (probably related to UAV [unmanned aerial vehicles], possibly including a transportable ground control structure).”

The attack reportedly came after an Iranian transport plane landed at the site.

Land route to Lebanon

Images, also from ImageSat International, obtained by Fox News, are said to show that Iran is building a border crossing at the Syrian-Iraqi border, which would also open up a land route to Lebanon from Iran, according to Western intelligence sources, says the U.S. media network.

Tehran has gained access to the crucial region through the assistance of pro-Iranian Shiite militias which control the area, says Fox. “The border crossing would enable Iran to maintain land access in Syria, Beirut, and the Mediterranean Sea,” the report added.

A meeting is scheduled to take place in Jerusalem later in June with the participation of top security advisers from the U.S., Israel, and Russia. The Iranian presence in Syria is expected to be at the center of the agenda.