Tel Aviv. Since the announcement on a normalization agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, Iran is making big efforts to get ready for a confrontation with Israel from Syrian soil.
Immediately after the killing of a Hezbollah member in one of the recent Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, Iran has stepped up its efforts to get ready for a direct confrontation with Israel, and is transferring to Syria large amounts of advanced military hardware.
The United States recently revealed that the Iranians have been operating an air train of Iranian and Syrian cargo planes between Tehran and the Russian airport in northwestern Syria.
West Asia expert Doron Peskin, who is following the developments in the area closely, says that since mid-August, Iran has increased arms shipments to Syria.
In the past two weeks, two cargo planes that the United States claims are involved in transporting weapons in favor of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ have dramatically increased the number of their flights from Tehran to Syria.
These planes are identified as YK-ATA and YK-ATB IL-76 and are on the US sanctions list. According to Arab publications based on an analysis of FlightRadar24 data, these two planes have been performing 13 flights from Tehran to the Syrian port city of Adakia since August 16.
Last week, two Ilyushin Il-76 cargo planes made 10 flights to Syria from Maharabad International Airport in Tehran, which is also used by the Iranian Air Force for domestic flights.
According to FlightRadar24, the two Syrian airline planes flew daily from Iran to Adakia International Airport between August 23 and August 27, which is an exception compared to flights made earlier this year to this air base, which has been serving Russia since September 2015.
Israeli experts say that there is no doubt that the increased number of flights on the Tehran-Adakia route recently are performed with the knowledge and consent of Russia
The Syrian airport to which the flights were made shares its facilities with the Khamimimair base, which has been serving Russia since September 2015.
Israel has previously warned that it sees and knows exactly what the Iranians are bringing to Syria and that it will not accept the introduction of advanced Iranian weapons systems for use by its militias, including Hezbollah, operating on Syrian soil.
Israel has declared time and again that any advanced weapon system that lands on Syrian soil, will be destroyed sooner or later, and according to past experience it was sooner rather than later.
Last night a target near Damascus international airport was attacked and two people were killed, and a few others injured. Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack. However, sources in the West Asia affirmed that the attack was conducted by Israel.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
