Iranian humanitarian aid flights allegedly used to transport weapons to Syria

Following the February 6 earthquake in northern Syria and Turkey, hundreds of flights from Iran landed at airports in Aleppo, Damascus, and Latakia in Syria, bringing supplies for seven weeks. The supplies included advanced communication equipment, radar batteries, and spare parts needed for a planned upgrade of Syria’s air defense system provided by Iran, according to the sources.

Iran’s refutation

When asked about the alleged use of these planes to transport military equipment to Syria, the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York said: “This is not true”. The Syrian government did not respond to a request for comment.

Regional sources told Reuters that Israel quickly became aware of the arrival of weapons in Syria and launched an aggressive campaign to counter it. Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of research in the Israeli army and former director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, said that Israeli airstrikes against the shipments were based on intelligence so precise that the Israeli army knew which truck in a long convoy to target.

“Under the cover of sending aid to earthquakes in Syria, Israel has noticed significant movements of military equipment from Iran, mainly transported in spare parts.”

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Israeli strikes

An unnamed Syrian army officer said that the Israelis were intensifying their efforts to defeat Iran in Syria. “Why now? Simply because they have information that something is developing rapidly. They have to stop it and hit it to slow it down. The earthquake created the right conditions. The ensuing chaos allowed Iranian planes to land easily,” he said.

Since the February 6 earthquake, Israeli targets have included weapons warehouses in the Jabal Manea Kiswa mountain range, south of Damascus, where Iranian troops and Lebanese Hezbollah have likely built their most fortified military site in Syria, according to a regional security source and two Western intelligence sources.