Tel Aviv. Israel is closely monitoring the implementation of the new military technology agreement signed recently by Iran and Syria. All the intelligence gathering tools of Israel are watching and following the results of this agreement.
An agreement to expand military and technological collaboration was signed recently between Iran and Syria. President Bashar al-Assad met Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, who came to Damascus for the signing ceremony, and extended his support for the agreement.
On the Syrian side it was signed by the Minister of Defense, General Ali Ayoub. According to Assad, the agreement reflects the high level of strategic and multi-dimensional ties between the two countries and the shared experience they have acquired in the war on terror.
As with previous pacts, this agreement seeks to strengthen military and security collaboration, enhance coordination vis-à-vis shared challenges and threats, and strengthen defense capabilities. At the same time, it is also intended to dispel rumours that ties between the countries are weakening and Iran is struggling under the burden of providing military and security assistance to Syria due to the sanctions and pressure it faces from the United States.
During the signing ceremony, representatives of Iran and Syria called for the withdrawal of the foreign forces that invaded Syria illegally. Ayoub described Israel as a US ally in the war against Syria, and Bagheri on his part blamed Turkey for dragging its feet in implementing its commitments under the Astana process regarding the withdrawal of “terror groups” from Syria.
According to Udi Dekel, a senior researcher in the Israeli institute for national security studies (INSS), the agreement was signed as a possible withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and eastern Syria looks near.
“According to assessments in Damascus and Tehran, such a development would probably allow increased Israeli air strikes along the Iraqi-Syrian border. This is likely the reason for the need to reinforce aerial defense capabilities across the entire Syrian space, which currently is unable to intercept and thwart Israeli Air Force attacks against Iranian outposts in Syria.” Dekel writes.
The researcher assesses that the agreement can be explained by Iran’s plan to set up an option to attack Israel from or through Syrian territory in response to Israeli attacks on Iranian military assets. This Iranian interest gained additional urgency after an explosion at a facility for assembling centrifuges at Natanz on July 2, 2020, which was attributed to Israel (though not officially by Iran).
The commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, Esmail Ghaani, publically threatened that “Israel and the United States should expect difficult days, and very difficult events will befall them.” Hence the Iranian operational need to strengthen the air defense protection circuits between Iran and Israel in order to thwart possible Israeli and perhaps US air attacks along the axis of Lebanon through Syria and Iraq into Iran.
Since the beginning of 2019, Israel attacked Syrian targets related to the Iranian efforts to supply accurate rockets to Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based terror organization.
The latest one was performed last night when the Israel Air Force attacked a number of targets in Syria.
–The writer is an Israel based freelance writer
