Iran exploits quake relief flights to send weapons to Syria – Reuters

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Iran used the Feb. 6 earthquake relief flights to send weapons and military equipment to Syria, several regional sources said.

Reuters quoted Syrian, Iranian, Israeli, and Western sources as saying that the goal was to buttress Iran’s defenses against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The supplies included advanced communications equipment and radar batteries and spare parts required for a planned upgrade of Syria’s Iran-provided air defense system in its civil war, the sources told Reuters.

On Feb. 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, killing more than 50,000 in both countries and injuring many more in addition to wide destruction and displacement of thousands of people.

However, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York had previously denied his country’s sending of military equipment to Syria.

Regional sources told Reuters that Israel quickly became aware of the flow of weapons into Syria and mounted an aggressive campaign to counter it.

An Israeli defence official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters: “Under the guise of shipments of earthquake aid to Syria, Israel has seen significant movements of military equipment from Iran, mainly transported in parts.”

He said the aid was mainly delivered to Syria’s northern Aleppo airport. Shipments were organized, he said, by the Unit 18,000 Syrian division of the Quds Force, the foreign espionage and paramilitary arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, led by Hassan Mehdoui, according to Reuters.