Syrian FM: Iran Coordinated Missile Strike

Date: 02 October 2018 - 22:20

News ID: ۵۸۰۴۵

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Syrian foreign minister said in remarks broadcast Tuesday that the Iranian ballistic missiles attack on terrorists in eastern Syria the previous day was part of "legitimate" cooperation between the two countries to combat terrorism.
Walid al-Muallem's comments came during a wide-ranging interview with the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched six ballistic missiles as well as drone bombers into eastern Syria's Dayr al-Zawr province Monday, targeting Daesh terrorists it blamed for an attack on a military parade in Iran last month.
The strikes were the second time Iran had used cross-border missiles inside Syria. Last year, Iran also struck in militant positions in Dayr al-Zawr's town of Mayadeen and following another attack, in Tehran, that was blamed on Daesh.
But Monday's strikes come after Syrian government forces gained control of the strategic border town of Albu Kamal late last year, likely improving Iran's intelligence and capabilities in the area.
The strikes were also seen as threat to Iran's regional adversaries. "The Iranian missiles are in the framework of combating terrorism," said al-Muallem.
The Syrian government and its allies are separately battling Daesh, which still controls a sliver of land along Syria's border with Iraq.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in London said the strikes killed eight people in Hajin, a town still controlled by Daesh. The Observatory said one of the missiles hit a house that had been seized by Daesh.
General Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC’s aerospace division, was quoted on Tuesday as saying that the missile attack killed 40 "top leaders” of Daesh, and that intelligence for the operation had been provided by the Quds Force.
The U.S. military's Central Command acknowledged that Iranian forces conducted "no-notice strikes" in the area Monday and said it was assessing the damage. It said no American forces were in danger.
Russia has over the past week been delivering its advanced anti-aircraft systems, S-300, to Syria and has been using the Russian-made Antonov An-124 Ruslan for the job.
The Antonov An-124 Ruslan, also known as the Condor, is considered the largest military transport aircraft in the world, and is the second-largest plane overall, behind the Antonov An-225 Mriya. The Russian-made Mriya is the heaviest aircraft ever built and has the largest wingspan of an aircraft in service, at 88.4 meters (290 feet). With an empty weight of 314 tons, only one such aircraft was ever built.
The Ruslan weighs 192 tons empty and has a wingspan of 73.3 meters (240 feet).
Russia said it began supplying the S-300 air-defense system to Syria on Friday, despite Israeli protests. The first Ruslan plane was spotted arriving at the Hmeimim Air Base near Latakia in Syria on Thursday evening, according to the occupying regime’s Ynet website.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the deliveries had started during a UN press conference. He said the anti-aircraft system "will be devoted to ensuring 100 percent safety and security of our men in Syria.”
Moscow’s decision to supply the systems to Syria has caused concern in Tel Aviv. A senior Zionist official said Saturday that Syria’s possession of the S-300 posed a serious challenge for the occupying regime, but added that Israel was working on ways to prevent the development from becoming a major threat to its security.
Zionist PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday criticized Russia’s move as "irresponsible,” but said Israel was committed to continued deconfliction with Moscow in its military operations in the region.
Speaking to CNN in New York after the annual UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said that he spoke to Putin earlier this month after Syrian forces responding to a Zionist airstrike mistakenly shot down a Russian military reconnaissance plane, killing all 15 people on board.
The Russian defense ministry also announced last week that it would begin jamming radars of military planes striking targets in Syria from off the coast of the Mediterranean.