Attacks on Damascus and Aleppo: Israel attacks Syrian airports – is the mysterious Ilyushin the target?
On Thursday, Syrian state media reported that the Israeli Air Force was carrying out attacks on airports in Damascus and Aleppo. The goal? So far unclear. But there are several indications that point to a plane from Iran.
Air strikes on the international airport in Damascus, air strikes on the airport in Aleppo – on Thursday there were suddenly increasing reports that Syrian targets were under fire. Foreign policy experts quickly expressed the suspicion on Twitter that Iranian arms deliveries were the target. Is that correct?
Is a plane from Iran at Damascus airport the target of the Israelis?
There are several indications that speak for this. The Israeli army has long suspected that Iran supplies weapons to the terrorist organization Hezbollah and its branches in Syria via Syria. Hezbollah is primarily active in Lebanon and has increasingly attacked neighboring Israel in recent days.
A suspicious plane has been parked at Damascus airport for around a day. This is shown by data from “Flightradar24”.
An Ilyushin Il-76T, a cargo plane operated by the Syrian airline Syrian Air. The exciting thing: The plane comes from the Iranian capital Tehran. The plane shuttled back and forth between Tehran and Damascus between Tuesday and Wednesday. It is still unclear what the plane was transporting.
However, it is suspicious: the plane is on suspicion of terrorism Sanctions list of the USA.
As airstrikes begin, Iranian planes turn around over Syria
The Ilyushin is the only plane from Tehran to land in Damascus in recent days. “Flightradar24” also previously recorded a landing in Libya. The portal recorded another plane from Tehran flying into Syrian airspace almost exactly at the time the airstrikes began. The Mahan Air plane immediately turned around. It was initially unclear whether this was another transport plane or a passenger aircraft.
The state news agency Sana reported that runways at both airports were damaged in Thursday’s Israeli attacks. Operations had been stopped. The Israeli military did not comment on the reports.
In order to prevent Israel’s arch-enemy Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence in Syria, Israel’s air force is bombing targets in neighboring civil war-torn Syria more frequently. Iran is one of the Syrian government’s most important allies in the civil war. Rockets also fly from Syria towards Israel from time to time.
