Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening discussed the Iranian threat and the relationship of the regime in Tehran with terrorist organizations threatening Israel, like reported by inn.com.

“Iran transfers $700 million to Hezbollah per annum. But it does so by various methods, including fraud. In this framework, the Iranian Foreign Ministry transfers over $100 million to terrorist organizations. The money is transferred under diplomatic cover, by seemingly innocent means, to Lebanon and from there to Hezbollah,” said Netanyahu at the official Jerusalem Day ceremony at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem.

He added, “These enormous amounts fuel the relentless aggression by Iran and its proxies in our region. Our neighbors know it; all of the Arab states know it. This is one of the things that is bringing them to a renewed closeness with us.”

Netanyahu stressed, “While we do not make light of Iran’s threats, neither are we deterred by them because anyone who tries to hurt us will be hurt far worse.”

“We have proven this many times in the history of our state. We proved it just last night. We proved it in the six remarkable days that brought us back to parts of our ancient homeland,” he added.

“Due to the special nature of the system, and that the Russians are likely to have supplied only a few missiles to equip the launchers, I don’t think SAA will ever use it soon. The IAF has been using the tactic of saturating the attacked area with various kinds of missiles and bombs. It is not economical to use the S-300 against such an attack”, like reported by nationalinterest.org

At 2:30 in the morning on April 13, 2019, around a dozen missiles tore over the night sky of Hama province, Syria, launched by Israeli F-16 jets flying over Lebanon.

In response, short-range Syrian air missiles arced into the night sky trailing plumes of fire from their rocket motors. One or two can be seen exploding mid-air, possibly having have hit their target.

However, as has happened in over 200 other Israeli air strikes on targets in Syria, the defensive fire proved inadequate. The weapons struck three Syrian targets.

The first was a training base called the “Academy.” A second site was reportedly a storage facility for surface-to-surface missile launchers located near the Masyaf National Hospital. Afterward, the pro-Assad Al-Masdar news agency published a picture of an annihilated M-600 Tishereen ballistic missile launcher.

The M-600 is a Syrian license-manufactured version of the Iranian Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile, a type Tehran has used for missile strikes on targets in Syria, Iraq and Israel since 2017.

The third and hardest hit site was a missile manufacturing facility belonging to the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center near Masyaf, Syria. The SSSRC is dedicated to procuring sanctioned chemical weapons and ballistic missile technology from abroad for Damascus. The gated facility, for which you can see a satellite photo here, adjoined two compounds believed to house Syrian and Iranian troops.

Before-and-after satellite photos show that around three-quarters of the facility was reduced to flattened rubble by the bombs. The Syrian government claimed six personnel were injured in the attack, while independent observers reported seventeen to twenty-one injured, and possibly some deaths amongst Iranian forces.

The North Korean Connection?

Hawkish Israeli website Debkafile alleged that “Western intelligence sources” claimed that technical experts from Iran, North Korea and Belarus were killed or wounded in the strike. According to Debka, the North Koreans were specifically assisting with the production of fuel for solid-fuel rockets, which are less volatile and can be launched on much shorter notice than liquid-fuel rockets which require hours to pump full of gas prior to launch.

The Belarussians were allegedly in the employ of Belvneshpromservice, a state-owned arms exporter under sanction by the United States for illegal arms transfers. Belarus is a strong supporter of the Assad government, though it has officially denied that any Belarussian specialists are present in Syria.

Other sources have not corroborated Debka’s claims. However, Syria has historically exchanged scientists and technology with North Korea and Iran to circumvent international sanctions and arms-control laws. In July 2007, a missile being loaded with chemical weapons exploded in a secret facility in Al Safir, Syria—killing over forty people, including technicians from North Korea and Iran. The explosion was possibly caused by Israeli sabotage. Two months later, Israeli warplanes killed Syrian and North Korean technicians at a nuclear reactor site under construction at Deir-es-Zor.

Israel has employed everything from air strikes to motorcycle-riding assassins to target Syrian and Iranian experts involved in missile and chemical weapons program. The personnel at the Masyaf facility have been no exception. Israel warplanes bombed the facility for the first time in 2017. Then in August 2018, a car-bomb most likely planted by Mossad killed Aziz Anbar, a senior scientist at the facility. He had been working on a project called “Sector 4” intended to install improved guidance systems onto Syria’s M-600 ballistic missiles.

However, Syrian military commentator Mohammed Saleh Alftayeh expressed skepticism of the Debka claim in an internet exchange. According to him, the facility was building Iranian-designed Zelzal-2 (“Earthquake”) unguided artillery rockets with a range of 124 miles, whereas North Korean technology is used for longer-range systems.

“The Israelis are concerned more with [Iranian] Fateh-110 which we know North Koreans helped with its development (the development is still ongoing, so they might still be involved). Such development is more likely to be taking place at a different location in Masyaf (in Wadi Jahannam) which is actually dug inside a hillside and is an old base.

The base that was attacked this time is a relatively new one which was built [in 2014] next to some training facilities and separated from them by just a wall. This does not really speak of a sensitive project with foreign participation that needs secrecy and protection.”

The Mystery of the Silent S-300 Battery

Another aspect of the operation that has raised eyebrows concerns the advanced S-300PMU-2 surface-to-air missile battery (NATO codename SA-20B Gargoyle) deployed near Masyaf.

In 2018, Russia sold the S-300 to Syria over long-standing Israeli objections after a Russian Il-20 surveillance plane was mistakenly shot down by Syrian air defenses attempting to engage Israeli fighters. In theory, the S-300s, which can employ 48N6 missiles with a theoretical maximum range of 120 miles, could pose a greater risk to the IDF’s frequent strikes over Syria.

In February 2019, satellite photos revealed at least three S-300 systems in Masyaf apparently in operational condition. However, the S-300 battery did not attempt to shoot down the incoming missiles on April 13. The defensive fire on April 13 instead likely came from short-range Pantsir-S1 or Tor-M1 air defense systems. Syrian state news sources claimed the S-300 crews had not yet completed their training.

However, the S-300’s silence may reflect a new understanding reached between Putin and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who won reelection just a week prior to the strike. Apparently, the latter agreed to provide fifteen minutes of advance notice of strikes to Russian forces.

Conflict analysis website T-Intelligence argued “The fact that the Syrian-operated SA-20B remained idle during last night’s IAF operation confirms that the use of the SAM system requires Russian approval. As expected, the Kremlin seems unwilling to authorize SAM attacks on IAF aircraft to protect Iranian assets.”

Debka later reported that a “Syrian military source” angrily criticized Russia for permitting the strike. “Russia may disapprove of the Israeli air strikes in Syria, but they will not intervene to stop them as they currently have an agreement with the Netanyahu administration.”

Russia and Iran are reportedly competing for influence over the Syrian government. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad favors Moscow, but his influential brother Maher has close ties with Iran. Early in 2019, Bashar began purging his brother’s supporters in the military, sparking several armed clashes.

Defense commentator Babak Taghvaee claimed IDF fighters used for the first time an indigenously-designed 1,256-pound air-launched supersonic missile called the Rampage, which would have been even harder than usual intercept. The long-range weapon, derived from the EXTRA artillery rocket, uses INS and GPS guidance and can be programmed to approach its targets from a specific angle at specific speed after launch and even calibrate the warhead to produce different levels of shrapnel to control collateral damage.

As the Rampage supposedly has a range measured in “hundreds” of kilometers, it could have launched well beyond the engagement range of the S-300PM2 system.

Alftayeh observes that a number of military and political factors might have weighed against employing the S-300 battery’s expensive 48N6 missiles.

“Due to the special nature of the system, and that the Russians are likely to have supplied only a few missiles to equip the launchers, I don’t think SAA will ever use it soon. The IAF has been using the tactic of saturating the attacked area with various kinds of missiles and bombs. It is not economical to use the S-300 against such an attack.”

He also noted that the aircraft launching the missiles were likely out of the S-300’s effective engagement range, particularly if the IDF employed Rampage missiles.

The mysteries surrounding the Israeli strike on Masyaf highlight how competing domestic factions and international actors continue to complicate Syria’s long and multi-faceted civil war.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched a drone attack on a military parade for Saudi-led coalition forces in the port city of Aden, the group’s Al Masirah TV said early on Monday.

The Saudi-owned Al-Hadath channel later quoted sources that the air defenses shot down a drone west of Aden.

There was no official comment from Saudi Arabia or the coalition. Local officials told Reuters that the coalition foiled an attack targeting one of its military camps in Aden.

The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen destroyed Houthi military sites in Sanaa, Ad-Dhale and Maerib, while the Iranian-backed militias continued to suffer losses on various fronts, like reported by aawsat.com.

Meanwhile, the national army launched a military operation to press ahead with its liberation of Dhale governorate from the insurgents.

It announced Tuesday that it had killed 32 rebels, including a Houthi commander, during clashes in Dhale.

The army’s site reported that confrontations erupted in the areas of Shakhab, al-Kafla, Bab Ghalak and Baja, north and west of Qatabah directorate, resulting in the death of 32 Houthi militiamen, including the local commander, Abduelah Ali Mohamed Miqdad, and the injury of other militants.

The Coalition air force supported the national army and resistance on various fronts in Dhale, most notably targeting Houthi reinforcements in the Oud region north of Qatabah, resulting in the destruction of a Katyusha rocket launcher and a tank belonging to the militias in the area Zubairat.

Coalition fighter jets also raided Houthi positions and sites in Dailami base, north of Sanaa. Witnesses reported hearing powerful explosions. Similar raids targeted insurgent sites in Jerban, Sanhan district of Sanaa.

Coalition warplanes also targeted Houthi military compounds and vehicles, west of Sirwah in Maerib, northeast of Sanaa, leaving casualties in the ranks of militants.

On the other hand, military sources reported that the national army from the joint forces in Hodeidah raided Houthi gatherings near Bani Maghazi, north of Hays directorate, south of Hodeidah, killing and injuring many militia fighters.

In other news, Media Freedom Observatory in Yemen, affiliated with think-tank Studies and Economic Media Center, a non-profit civil society organization, noted that since the beginning of 2015, violations and practices against journalists have increased.

It recorded 2,041 cases of abuse against journalists and media organizations, including killing 43 journalists and media activists. In addition, many journalists were abducted and subjected to the worst forms of torture.

More than 400 journalists have been displaced from their areas since the beginning of the war, and Yemen’s ranking in the journalism freedoms index has dropped to 168th place out of 180 countries.

The Iraqi security forces on Tuesday were able to kill 14 militants of the Islamic State (IS) insurgent group in Mosul city, the Security Media Cell said in a statement, according to basnews.com.

The 14 extremists, according to the statement, were killed during a military campaign carried out by the Counter-Terrorism Service’s forces in Mosul.

The cell explained that among the killed IS members were senior leaders and suicide bombers, adding that the operation was conducted based on intelligence information.

The military operation targeted an IS hotbed located in the district of al-Hadar, southwest of Mosul.

A German intelligence report says Iran is trying to expand its arsenal with weapons on mass destruction amid flaring tensions with the U.S.

The May 2019 report refers to the Islamic Republic as a ‘risk country’ that is ‘making efforts to expand its conventional arsenal of weapons with weapons of mass destruction.’

The Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the equivalent of MI5, define these as atomic bombs, biological and chemical weapons.

The Iranians said they would restrict their nuclear program in the 2015 Iran Deal, but the Trump administration slammed the agreement because they said it did not prevent weapons development.

President Donald Trump has famously called it the ‘worst deal in history.’

US national security adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday there was ‘no reason’ for Iran to back out of its nuclear deal other than to seek atomic weapons, a year after the U.S. president unilaterally withdrew America from the accord.

Iran has set a July 7 deadline for Europe to offer better terms to the unravelling nuclear deal, otherwise it will resume enrichment closer to weapons level.

The US ambassador to Germany told Fox News: ‘We know the Iranian regime is on the hunt for money to fund their malign activities and so it is imperative that the U.S. and our European allies work together to deny this regime the capital they seek.

‘They will use secretive schemes and dark money; we must be vigilant. They are strapped for cash.’

The German Intelligence report states that Iran, along with North Korea and Pakistan, are attempting to obtain contracts from their technologically advanced factories.

It refers to German customs officers intercepting a beam welding machine which can be used for making missile launch vehicles.

The device had been ordered through a Malaysian company but was destined for Iran, the intelligence report said.

In recent weeks, tensions have soared as the U.S. beefed up its military presence in the Persian Gulf in response to a still-unexplained threat from Iran.

On Wednesday, Trump’s adviser Bolton, claimed the alleged sabotage of four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates came from naval mines placed ‘almost certainly by Iran.’

Speaking in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital, Bolton told journalists that there had been a previously unknown attempt to attack the Saudi oil port of Yanbu as well.

Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Bolton’s claim on Yanbu, which is the terminus, or end point, of the kingdom’s East-West Pipeline.

That pipeline was attacked in recent days in a coordinated drone assault launched by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

The U.S. also has accused Iran of being behind a string of incidents, including the alleged sabotage of oil tankers near the UAE coast and a rocket that landed near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, while Yemen’s Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels have launched a string of drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia.

Iran, meanwhile, has announced it was backing away from the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limits its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord as he believes it didn’t go far enough in limiting the Iranian nuclear program, nor did it address Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Bolton said that without more nuclear power plants, it made no sense for Iran to stockpile more low-enriched uranium as it now plans to do.

But the U.S. also earlier cut off Iran’s ability to sell its uranium to Russia in exchange for unprocessed yellow-cake uranium.

‘There’s no reason for them to do (higher enrichment) unless it is to reduce the breakout time to nuclear weapons,’ Bolton said.

Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. However, Western powers pushed for the nuclear deal to limit Iran’s ability to seek atomic weapons.

The Arab Coalition began an operation on targets in Yemen’s Dhalea province on Wednesday, Al Arabiya TV reported, in a bid to stop Houthi attacks creating a humanitarian crisis.

The coalition, which includes the UAE and Saudi Arabia, began the operation on the southern province, targeting Houthi military operations in the area. The targets are said to have attacked pro-government forces in areas populated by civilians.

On Tuesday, Yemen’s Human Rights Minister, Mohammed Asker, urged the United Nations to intensify its humanitarian intervention in Dhalea.

Thousands of civilians have been displaced by fighting over the past two months and many are running low on food and supplies.

Since 2015, the Arab Coalition has been fighting Houthi rebels, seeking to restore the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

Houthis hold the capital of Sanaa in the north of the country, while the Yemeni government is operating from Aden in the south.

On Tuesday, the coalition said Iran is still supplying Houthis with ballistic missiles and unmanned aircraft.

Houthis have increased missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, against a backdrop of increased tensions against Iran and the United States, a Saudi ally.

On Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, US National Security Adviser John Bolton blamed Iran naval mines for attacks on four shipping tankers off the coast of Fujairah.

Altogether 10 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Tuesday in airstrikes on IS vehicles in Iraq’s central province of Salahudin, the Iraqi military said.

The Iraqi army’s helicopter gunships, in coordination with Salahudin’s Operations Command, conducted airstrikes against IS positions in Allas area, some 40 km east the provincial capital Tikrit, Yahya Rasoul, spokesman of the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, said in a statement.

The airstrikes killed 10 IS militants and destroyed two vehicles, one of which was booby-trapped, Rasoul said.

According to Rasoul, the gunships also destroyed two oil tankers loaded with gasoline and meant for use by IS remnants.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.

Russian military police last week reportedly carried out a raid against Iranian-backed militiamen stationed at Syria’s Aleppo international airport, local media reported according to voanews.com. 

In the aftermath, several Iranian militia leaders were arrested in what was seen as the latest episode of tensions between Iranian and Russian forces in Syria. 

Since the beginning of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Russia and Iran have built a strong military presence in the country in support of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. 

Iran has since deployed thousands of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and allied Shiite militias to Syria, while Russia officially entered the Syrian conflict in September 2015 to help Assad’s regime. 

But as the war is waning, with Syrian regime forces reclaiming most of the territory once controlled by rebel forces, Russia and Iran seem to be vying for influence in the war-torn country. 

‘Slice of the pie’ 

Analysts say the protracted war in Syria has created a slight fissure between the two allies. 

“There are definite tensions that exist between Russia and Iran within Syria,” said Phillip Smyth, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who closely follows Iranian-backed militias in Syria. 

“You see things like this [raid in Aleppo] that occur in flashpoint zones because there’s criminal activity going on. Each country’s proxy wants a cut of that,” he told VOA.

Similar incidents have been taking place throughout the country in the past two years. 

Recently, two divisions of the Syrian military were engaged in deadly clashes in different parts of the country, local reports said. 

This power struggle is the result of differences among Syrian military leaders who are either loyal to Russia or Iran, observers believe. 

“I do believe that it comes down to who controls what, what slice of the pie they all have. But I don’t necessarily believe that this is going to lead to some major conflagration between Iranian and Russian forces there,” analyst Smyth said. 

Tactical differences

The strategic partnership between Russia and Iran in Syria goes beyond such disagreements, especially since Russia is still dependent on Iranian forces to hold territory and to provide manpower for Syrian regime troops, some experts say. 

“I never believe that Russia would separate from Iran,” said Anna Borshchevskaya, a research fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy who focuses on Russia’s policy in the Middle East. 

“The disagreements they’re having is that they’re trying to carve out spheres of influence in Syria, which is something that Russia understands very well,” she told VOA in a phone interview. “Their relationship is a complex one, for sure. But what holds them together is their anti-Americanism and a desire to reduce American influence in the region.”

Borshchevskaya added that “on the tactical level, [Russia and Iran] are going to have differences sometimes. But they agree on the big picture.” 

The U.S. has been involved in the war against Islamic State militants since 2014, when the terror group announced its so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq. 

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who declared victory over IS in March, now control more than a third of Syria’s territory. 

The United States has about 2,000 troops in areas under the control of the Kurdish-led SDF. But the U.S. administration has said it will keep only about 400 soldiers in those areas after the war against IS is over. 

Russia and Iran have constantly opposed the U.S. military presence in Syria. 

Economic competition

Some analysts believe that, unlike when they became involved in Syria’s war, Russian and Iranian forces now control larger territories and both countries are searching for economic opportunities in the country. 

“Now there are more points of friction between the two countries than ever before,” said Jowan Hemo, a Syrian economist who follows the economic patterns of the war. 

“So naturally, you would see them compete to win contracts with the Syrian regime, including the energy and power sectors and other types of investments,” he told VOA. 

In 2018, Russia was awarded exclusive rights to produce Syria’s oil and gas. Russia has also signed a contract to use the Syrian port of Tartus for 49 years, while Iran won a bid to partially use the port of Latakia. 

Both countries want to economically monopolize Syria for the long term, because they each have given sizable loans to the Syrian regime throughout the war, economist Hemo said. 

“I believe this type of competition will continue in Syria, but eventually Russia’s economic dominance will prevail,” he added.

Turkey has equipped an array of mainstream Syrian rebels it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to help them try to repel a major assault, senior opposition officials and rebel sources said according to cgtn.com.

The Syrian army launched a large aerial and ground assault as it sought to gain control of the last big stretch of rebel-held territory in the northwest of the country last month.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said rebels had breached an existing ceasefire, triggering a civilian exodus by bombarding Idlib and adjacent areas. It has been the biggest escalation since last summer between Assad and his enemies in Idlib province and a belt of territory around it.

Ankara stepped up supplies in recent days after Turkey and Russia failed to reach an agreement, ending the escalation and averting a major influx of refugees pouring into Turkey.

The two countries held a meeting last month, in which Turkish President Erdogan, on his part, said Russia and Turkey can “change the destiny of the whole region” together.

Following that, Russian army Sunday declared President Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian forces had ceased fire “unilaterally” in a northwestern rebel bastion, but Turkey denied, accusing on its Defense Ministry’s website that Syrian government forces violated the ceasefire agreement reached with Russia for Idlib Last September.

Overnight, a Turkish military convoy arrived at a base in northern Hama near rebel-held Jabal al-Zawiya, where Russian and Syrian jets have been pounding for weeks, a rebel and a witness said.

The delivery of dozens of armored vehicles, Grad rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles and so-called TOW missiles, helped roll back some Syrian army gains and retake the strategically located town of Kfar Nabouda, one senior opposition figure said.

The TOW missile had been the most potent weapon in the arsenal of rebel groups battling Assad during the conflict. Western and Arab foes of Assad extended it until a CIA-led program of military support to help moderate rebels was suspended in 2017.

A Western intelligence source said Washington had given a “green light” for the Turkey-backed mainstream rebels to use the TOW missiles, which had been in storage in the latest campaign.

A spokesman for the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front (NLF), Captain Naji Mustafa, did not confirm or deny any new supplies by Turkey, saying rebels had long had a big arsenal of weapons from anti-tank to armored vehicles “alongside material and logistical support by our Turkish brothers.”