Israeli Airstrike On Key Syrian Port Targets Iranian Supplies
Israeli warplanes have fired missiles at the port of the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, causing large explosions and massive material damage, Syria said.
Israeli warplanes have fired missiles at the port of the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, causing large explosions and massive material damage, Syria said.
The attack early Tuesday morning was the second Israeli strike on the key facility in a month.
According to the official Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, "a large number of containers" resting in the port caught fire, causing “significant material damage”. It added that the airstrike wrecked the facades of a hospital as well as some residential buildings and shops.
“At around 3:21am (05:21 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean … targeting the container yard in Latakia port,” the agency quoted an unnamed military source.
Live footage aired by the state television showed flames and smoke in the container storage area of the terminal, but later in the day Syrian media said that the fire was under control.
After the first strike on the port earlier in December, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed that Israel would continue to push back against what he called "destructive forces" in the region.
Israel says the target of its attacks are Iranian supplies headed for the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Iran reportedly uses the terminal to transport munitions to its proxies in the region.
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“The Great Prophet 17 wargames during a break in Vienna talks sent a signal that Iran has found its way forward on its nuclear path, economic relations with the East…military deterrence,” Fars wrote.
Fars’ rhetoric echoes messages repeatedly uttered by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his hardliner supporters, but the phrase ‘Iran on its nuclear path’ is noteworthy.
Fars went on to mock a statement by late president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who reportedly said in 2016 that the world has become a place for “conversation not missiles.” Fars contrasted Hashemi’s statement with Khamenei’s reply at the time who said, “The world is both for missiles and conversation,” and without missiles Iran cannot have negotiations, or it will be the loser.
Fars then went on attacking France for its anti-Iran stance in the Vienna talks, a trend that state media started last week in what appears to be a response to tough positions expressed by the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the three European powers who are participants in the 2015 nuclear deal, JCPOA. They have called on Iran to negotiate “seriously” in Vienna and have warned of time running out to reach an agreement.
The IRGC-affiliated website went on to say that last week’s military drills, during which several ballistic missiles were fired at a mock-up of Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility, was meant to give Iran’s negotiators in Vienna “a full hand with which to haggle”.
Fars said Iran had fired missiles that could reach the Dimona facility in seven minutes and it demonstrated such a deterrence capability that proves threats by Israel, or the US against Iran’s nuclear sites are “empty threats”.
Iran is not in Vienna because it is weak and in need of an agreement, Fars said, and added, "It is in Vienna to defend its rights" under the JCPOA.
It also published tweets by mostly unknown users who praised the wargames and especially firing missiles at the mock-up of Dimona nuclear reactor. One tweet said, “Dimona nuclear facility – Today the mock-up, Tomorrow the real thing”.
