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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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April 10, 2018
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Israeli
Airstrikes Target Iran's Presence, Drone Program in Syria
by IPT News • Apr 10, 2018 at
1:06 pm
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In recent months, Israel-Iran tensions have evolved from covert and
proxy battles to direct confrontations. Early Monday, Israel targeted the
Syrian regime's T-4 military air base in Homs, killing at least seven
Iranian personnel. One of the fatalities was a colonel with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC),
responsible for overseeing Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) unit. The
IRGC ordered Iranian state-affiliated media outlets to retract articles
describing the incident.
Iran's drone program is a growing threat to Israeli national security.
The Islamic Republic is assisting its terrorist proxies – mainly Hizballah
and Hamas – in acquiring and developing sophisticated drones to challenge
Israel. Militant drones have been used to test Israel's air defenses and
conduct surveillance over sensitive sites. In 2014, Hizballah reportedly
was the first terrorist group to utilize an attack drone to kill rival militants in Syria and
continues to incorporate aerial capabilities in its offensive operations.
Now, bypassing its proxies, Iran directly challenges Israel through its
UAV program. In early February, Israel shot down an Iranian drone that infiltrated Israel's airspace. Israeli jets
subsequently bombed several military targets in Syria, including some under
Iranian control. In the process, Syrian air defenses downed an Israeli jet – the first time an Israeli
military aircraft had been taken out by enemy fire since the 1980s.
That escalation marks the first direct confrontation between Israeli and
Iranian forces. Iran may have been provoking an Israeli response,
demonstrating a growing willingness to use Syria as a base to challenge
Israel directly.
Israel has set red lines throughout the Syrian civil war, focused
on preventing "game-changing" weapons from landing in Hizballah's
hands and a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria. In late February,
reports emerged proving that Iran constructed another military base in Syria with the
ability to host missiles that can strike any part of the Jewish state.
Iran already oversees a military compound near the Damascus airport and
other high-profile airbases and permanent military sites across the country.
In 2015, Israeli airstrikes in the Syrian Golan killed 11 members of the
Hizballah-Iranian axis including senior Hizballah leaders and an Iranian general who were attempting to set up a base
of terrorist operations to target Israel.
Israel's airstrike on Monday comes amid another high-casualty, Syrian
regime chemical weapons attack targeting civilian
neighbourhoods in Douma – a Damascus suburb. The timing of Israel's
airstrike suggests that Israel is holding the Assad regime accountable for
such a gruesome attack. However, Israel primarily is signaling to the
Iranian regime that its neighboring drone program and permanent foothold in
Syria is unacceptable.
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