Did the IAF pay an undetected visit to Iran?
By: Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS
Two Israeli F-35 “Adir” stealth jets entered Iranian airspace this past month, according to a report by Kuwaiti daily Al-Jareeda on Thursday.
Reflecting on regional tensions, Al-Jareeda said the move comes amid reports of an alleged planned joint Israeli-American military strike in Syria, which would likely include Iranian targets.
Citing an “informed source,” the paper said the state-of-the-art stealth jets set off on a reconnaissance mission, and entered Syria and Iraq before penetrating Iranian airspace.
The jets reportedly then marked targets in the Bandar Abbas, Isfahan and Shiraz regions in Iran. The pair also reportedly flew at a high altitude above sites suspected of being connected to Iran’s nuclear program along the Persian Gulf coast.
The source told the paper that the two F-35s evaded detection by all the radar systems installed in the region, including advanced Russian radar systems in Syria, but declined to say whether the mission was coordinated with the United States.
Earlier this month, Israel and the United States held their biannual joint Juniper Cobra exercise over the course of two weeks. Some 2,500 Israeli and 2,000 US soldiers took part in the maneuvers.
The source said seven F-35s currently in active Israeli service carried out several of Israel’s recent airstrikes in Syria, including those along the Lebanese-Syrian border, and can fly to Iran and back to Israel twice before refueling.
Russia: report ‘total rubbish’
However, a source in the Russian Defense Ministry told Sputnik news that the reports about Israeli fighter jets “outsmarting” Russian radars in Syria while on a reconnaissance mission are “total rubbish.”
“The information published in a number of mass media outlets with reference to a foreign source, that ‘Israeli fighters deceived the Russian radars in Syria and conducted reconnaissance at a high altitude’ is total stupidity,” the source said.
The source explained that any flying object flying at high altitude is an easy target to detect and destroy for air defense systems of most countries of the world.
The source also underscored that Syrian air defense repeatedly proved its capability to down air-to-ground missiles, whose reflective surface is significantly smaller than that of an F-35 jet.
According to the source, the Russian air defense systems deployed in Syria “reliably protect” Russian military facilities in Tartus and Hmeimim.
He did not refer to a possible Israeli breach of Iranian airspace.