Iran used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into Syria to buttress Tehran's defenses against Israel and strengthen President Bashar al-Assad, according to Israeli, Western, Syrian, and Iranian sources.
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After the Feb. 6 earthquake in northern Syria and southern Turkey, hundreds of flights carrying supplies from the Islamic Republic began landing in Syria's Aleppo, Damascus, and Latakia airports, and this went on for seven weeks, the sources told Reuters. The supplies reportedly included advanced communications equipment and radar batteries and spare parts required for a planned upgrade of Syria's Iran-provided air defense system for use in its protracted civil war.
"The idea that Iran smuggled weapons to Syria, exploiting the earthquake emergency mission, is very much part of its playbook, and Iranian officials have bragged that they are getting away with it," said Jason Brodsky, policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran.
"It's all part of a very concerning threat landscape that confronts Israel," he told i24NEWS. "At a time when Israel is consumed over internal divisions over the judicial reform issue, as well as this earthquake aid situation and the perceived distraction of the United States away from the region, the Islamic Republic senses it has an opportunity to expand its footprint and carry out more aggressive operations against Israel."
When asked if Iran had used humanitarian relief planes after the quakes – which the United Nations said left more than 6,000 people dead in Syria – to move military equipment there to help Assad, Iran's mission to the UN said: "That's not true."
Regional sources and an unnamed Israeli defense official were cited by Reuters as saying that Israel quickly became aware of the flow of weapons into Syria – which were mainly delivered to Aleppo – and responded with an aggressive campaign. For example, just hours after two Iranian cargo planes landed with arms shipments under the pretext of aid relief, Aleppo's runway was hit by airstrikes attributed to Israel, Western intelligence sources said.
Other strikes blamed on Israel have also targeted weapons warehouses in the Jabal Manea Kiswa mountain range south of Damascus, where Iranian troops and forces of Lebanon's Hezbollah terror movement have built a fortified military site, according to three of the sources.
A Syrian officer told Reuters that Israel was stepping up its efforts to defeat Iran in Syria: "Why now? Simply because they have information that something is being developed quickly. They must stop it and hit it to slow it. The quake created the right conditions. The chaos that ensued allowed Iranian jets to land with ease."
In the event of a humanitarian catastrophe, UN relief planes are allowed to seek landing rights from local authorities and humanitarian goods are exempt from sanctions. After the earthquake, Syrian authorities granted landing rights to direct flights coming from Russia and Iran.
"The quake was a sad disaster, but at the same time, it was God's help to us to help our brothers in Syria in their fight against their enemies. Loads of weapons were sent to Syria immediately," Reuters cited a regional source close to Iran's clerical leadership as saying.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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