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Syria, Iran threaten retaliation against Israel over airstrike | Fox News
Syria and its ally Iran are threatening to retaliate
against Israel for an airstrike carried out within
Syrian borders. U.S. officials said Israel launched the airstrike
inside Syria on Wednesday, targeting a convoy
believed to be carrying anti-aircraft weapons
bound for Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese
militant group allied with Syria and Iran. In response to the strike, Syrian Ambassador to
Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said Thursday that
Damascus "has the option and the capacity to
surprise in retaliation." Abdul-Karim Ali said he could not predict when
Damascus would retaliate, but told Hezbollah's al-
Ahd news website that it was up to the relevant
authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose
the time and place. In Iran, the countrys deputy foreign minister
said on Press TV that the strike on Syria will
have serious consequences for Tel Aviv, but did
not elaborate, according to the Jerusalem Post. Prior to the attack, last week, an aide to Iranian
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the
Mehr news agency that any attack on Syria was
an attack on itself, fearing that Iran and Iraq
would be targeted next if Assads regime falls,
Haaretz reports. An Israeli lawmaker close to Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu stopped short of confirming
involvement in the strike Thursday, but he hinted
that Israel could carry out similar missions in the
future. Regional security officials said the weapons
shipment that Israel targeted included
sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft
missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would
enable the militants to shoot down Israeli jets,
helicopters and surveillance drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to brief the media. However, the Syrian military denied the existence
of any weapons shipment and said a scientific
research facility outside Damascus was hit by the
Israeli warplanes. It said the target was in the
area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus and
about 10 miles from the Lebanese border. A U.S. official told the New York Times that Israel
informed the U.S. of its plans to strike a military
target inside Syria before attacking the research
center near Damascus. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, who
became in December one of the most senior
Syrian army officers to defect, told The
Associated Press by telephone from Turkey that
the targeted site is a "major and well-known"
center to develop weapons known as the Scientific Research Center. Al-Shallal, who until his defection was the
commander of the Military Police, said no
chemical or nonconventional weapons are at the
site, which is frequented by Russian and Iranian
experts. But diplomatic sources from three countries told
Reuters that they suspect chemical weapons are
at the Jamraya, and it was possible that the
convoy of trucks was nearby at the time of the
attack. The Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned Major-
General Iqbal Singh Singha, the head of mission
and force commander for United Nations
Disengagement Observer Force on the Golan
Heights, to complain about the Israeli strike. The force was established in 1974 following the
disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the
area and has remained there since to maintain
the cease-fire. Israel captured the Golan, a
strategic plateau, from Syria in the 1967 Middle
East war. The Israeli airstrike also drew criticism from
Hezbollah, which called it a "barbaric aggression"
and Syrian ally Russia said it appeared to be an
unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation. Russia, Syria's strongest international ally, said
Moscow is taking "urgent measures to clarify the
situation in all its details." "If this information is confirmed, we have a case
of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory
of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the
U.N. Charter and is unacceptable," Russia's Foreign
Ministry said in a statement. "Whatever the
motives, this is not justified." In addition, the head of the Arab League called
the strike a "flagrant aggression and a glaring
violation" of Syrias sovereignty, Haaretz reports. Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, who is close to
Netanyahu, said pinpoint strikes are not enough
to counter the threat of Hezbollah obtaining
sophisticated weaponry from Syria. "Israel's preference would be if a Western entity
would control these weapons systems," Hanegbi
said. "But because it appears the world is not
prepared to do what was done in Libya or other
places, then Israel finds itself like it has many
times in the past facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to," he added. He was referring to NATO's 2011 military
intervention in Libya that helped oust dictator
Muammar Qaddafi. Syria's civil war has sapped Assad's power and
threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key
supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran.
The two countries provide Hezbollah with the
bulk of its funding and arms. Earlier this week, Netanyahu warned of the
dangers of Syria's "deadly weapons," saying the
country is "increasingly coming apart." The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new
"Iron Dome" rocket defense system to the
northern city of Haifa, which was battered by
Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli
army called that move "routine." The Israeli army won't say whether Iron Dome
was sent north in connection to this operation. It
does note that it has deployed the system in the
north before. Syria and its allies, including Hezbollah, deny there
is an uprising against the government and say
what is happening is part of a conspiracy against
Damascus because of its support for anti-Israeli
groups.
Syria and its ally Iran are threatening to retaliate
against Israel for an airstrike carried out within
Syrian borders. U.S. officials said Israel launched the airstrike
inside Syria on Wednesday, targeting a convoy
believed to be carrying anti-aircraft weapons
bound for Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese
militant group allied with Syria and Iran. In response to the strike, Syrian Ambassador to
Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said Thursday that
Damascus "has the option and the capacity to
surprise in retaliation." Abdul-Karim Ali said he could not predict when
Damascus would retaliate, but told Hezbollah's al-
Ahd news website that it was up to the relevant
authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose
the time and place. In Iran, the countrys deputy foreign minister
said on Press TV that the strike on Syria will
have serious consequences for Tel Aviv, but did
not elaborate, according to the Jerusalem Post. Prior to the attack, last week, an aide to Iranian
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the
Mehr news agency that any attack on Syria was
an attack on itself, fearing that Iran and Iraq
would be targeted next if Assads regime falls,
Haaretz reports. An Israeli lawmaker close to Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu stopped short of confirming
involvement in the strike Thursday, but he hinted
that Israel could carry out similar missions in the
future. Regional security officials said the weapons
shipment that Israel targeted included
sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft
missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would
enable the militants to shoot down Israeli jets,
helicopters and surveillance drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to brief the media. However, the Syrian military denied the existence
of any weapons shipment and said a scientific
research facility outside Damascus was hit by the
Israeli warplanes. It said the target was in the
area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus and
about 10 miles from the Lebanese border. A U.S. official told the New York Times that Israel
informed the U.S. of its plans to strike a military
target inside Syria before attacking the research
center near Damascus. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, who
became in December one of the most senior
Syrian army officers to defect, told The
Associated Press by telephone from Turkey that
the targeted site is a "major and well-known"
center to develop weapons known as the Scientific Research Center. Al-Shallal, who until his defection was the
commander of the Military Police, said no
chemical or nonconventional weapons are at the
site, which is frequented by Russian and Iranian
experts. But diplomatic sources from three countries told
Reuters that they suspect chemical weapons are
at the Jamraya, and it was possible that the
convoy of trucks was nearby at the time of the
attack. The Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned Major-
General Iqbal Singh Singha, the head of mission
and force commander for United Nations
Disengagement Observer Force on the Golan
Heights, to complain about the Israeli strike. The force was established in 1974 following the
disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the
area and has remained there since to maintain
the cease-fire. Israel captured the Golan, a
strategic plateau, from Syria in the 1967 Middle
East war. The Israeli airstrike also drew criticism from
Hezbollah, which called it a "barbaric aggression"
and Syrian ally Russia said it appeared to be an
unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation. Russia, Syria's strongest international ally, said
Moscow is taking "urgent measures to clarify the
situation in all its details." "If this information is confirmed, we have a case
of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory
of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the
U.N. Charter and is unacceptable," Russia's Foreign
Ministry said in a statement. "Whatever the
motives, this is not justified." In addition, the head of the Arab League called
the strike a "flagrant aggression and a glaring
violation" of Syrias sovereignty, Haaretz reports. Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, who is close to
Netanyahu, said pinpoint strikes are not enough
to counter the threat of Hezbollah obtaining
sophisticated weaponry from Syria. "Israel's preference would be if a Western entity
would control these weapons systems," Hanegbi
said. "But because it appears the world is not
prepared to do what was done in Libya or other
places, then Israel finds itself like it has many
times in the past facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to," he added. He was referring to NATO's 2011 military
intervention in Libya that helped oust dictator
Muammar Qaddafi. Syria's civil war has sapped Assad's power and
threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key
supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran.
The two countries provide Hezbollah with the
bulk of its funding and arms. Earlier this week, Netanyahu warned of the
dangers of Syria's "deadly weapons," saying the
country is "increasingly coming apart." The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new
"Iron Dome" rocket defense system to the
northern city of Haifa, which was battered by
Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli
army called that move "routine." The Israeli army won't say whether Iron Dome
was sent north in connection to this operation. It
does note that it has deployed the system in the
north before. Syria and its allies, including Hezbollah, deny there
is an uprising against the government and say
what is happening is part of a conspiracy against
Damascus because of its support for anti-Israeli
groups.
