Iran crosses Israeli ‘red line’ with missile base
Satellite images reportedly reveal facility inside Syria that is within striking distance of the Jewish state
SATELLITE images reportedly show that Iran has established a base outside of Damascus to house missiles capable of hitting Israel, crossing a “red line” for the Israeli government as it struggles to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
Images from Imagesat International, an Israeli satellite firm, appear to show a pair of newly built missile hangars on the base, which strongly resemble hangars at another Iranian compound that Israel bombed last year.
The new base, located around eight miles north-west of Damascus, is being run by the Quds Force, the expeditionary arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which has spearheaded Iran’s involvement in Syria, according to Fox News.
If the base is confirmed to hold Iranian missiles, its presence is likely to increase tensions between arch rivals Israel and Iran over Syria, which have grown sharply in recent months. Those tensions erupted in early February when Israel shot down an Iranian drone that entered its airspace from Syria, and in turn lost one of its F-16 fighter jets to a Syrian regime anti-aircraft missile.
Western diplomats and the UN have repeatedly warned such skirmishes could easily erupt into a devastating full-blown conflict, potentially pitting Israel against Iran and its allies in both Lebanon and Syria.
Israel has largely stayed out of the war that has raged in Syria for the past seven years, but it has laid down a series of what it calls “red lines”, aimed mainly at limiting the presence in Syria of both Iran and its proxy group Hizbollah.
One of those red lines is to prevent Iran from using its alliance with the Assad regime to establish any permanent military bases in Syria.
“Iran continues to try to cross those red lines,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, at the Mu- nich security conference last month. “Israel will not allow the Iranian regime to put a noose of terror around our neck.”
Last December, Israeli jets and ground missiles struck an alleged Iranian base in the Syrian city of alqiswah, eight miles south of Damascus.
Satellite images taken of the alqiswah facility before it was destroyed show a white hangar around 100ft long and 65ft wide.
Imagesat International said its satellites showed a pair of similar hangars at the newly spotted base at Jabal ash Sharqi, north-west of Damascus. The Israeli government’s policy is usually to neither confirm nor deny its strikes in Syria and senior officials rarely talk openly about its military activities against Iran and Hizbollah.
Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli defence minister, played down reports of the new base yesterday. “We are listening and following the events. We will also act in the international arena to achieve everything possible,” he said.
Maps published by the Institute for the Study of War, a Us-based think tank, show Iran has dozens of longterm military facilities across Syria, ranging from headquarters to training facilities and drone bases. While Israel has carried out periodic strikes against the most significant facilities, it has been unable to stop the proliferation of Iranian bases.
Repeated diplomatic efforts by Mr Netanyahu to try to convince Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, to rein in Iran’s expansion in Syria have so far failed to win over the Kremlin.
“I don’t think Israel has a grand vision of how it’s going to prevent Iran from consolidating its presence in Syria,” said Michael Horowitz, a senior analyst at the Le Beck International geopolitical consultancy.