Israel has struck 75% of Iran’s weapons in Syria: Security sources

Officials believe Israel has achieved full deterrence on the Syrian front.

By Benjamin Kerstein, The Algemeiner

Israel has struck some three quarters of Iran’s weapons supply in Syria, sources within Israel’s security establishment told Israeli media Tuesday.

According to the Walla news site, the unnamed sources said that part of the weapons were constructed in Iran and smuggled into Syria by land, air, and sea in order to supply pro-Iran militias and assets in the war-torn country, as well as the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

In their assessment, said the sources, Israel had achieved full deterrence against both Iran in Syria and Syria’s ruling Iran-allied regime of dictator Bashar Assad.

The materiel damaged in Israeli operations include rockets, missiles, air defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, weapons production infrastructure, and other assets.

Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria and has conducted a years-long air campaign against Iranian weapons and assets in the country, which has been wracked by civil war since 2011.

Syrian state media reported Tuesday that Israel had carried out what appeared to its first-ever air strike on the port of Latakia. Israel has not publicly commented on the reports.

Meanwhile, amid the backdrop of stalling talks in Vienna between Iran and world powers over the nuclear deal, Israel is reportedly preparing to urge the US to strike Iran-linked targets in the region, as a means of softening Tehran’s negotiating position.