Tehran is keeping new missile supplies coming to Syria, undeterred by the Israeli air strikes which destroy incoming consignments, including the large-scale IDF bombing raids early Thursday, May 10 in the Damascus region. Most of the missiles are shipped in to Syrian airfields by Iranian and Syrian cargo planes.DEBKAfile’s military sources therefore advise caution in assessing the comment by IDF officers that it will take Iran a long time to recover from Thursday’s raids on their units, missile stores and command centers in Syria. The IDF also reported that Russian commanders in Syria were advised of the coming IDF counter-attack against Iran’s military centers in general terms. Our sources confirm that Iran’s government and military leaders are determined to absorb Israel’s offensive – and keep going. Therefore, the IDF still has a long haul ahead, running possibly into months, before Israel can be sure that Iran has been stopped in its effort to establish a base in Syria as a platform for aggression. Tehran’s determination to go through with its plan is matched by Israel’s resolve to thwart it. As of now, neither side is willing to break off the confrontation.
Our military sources have learned that the air strike on Al Kiswa, south of Damascus, Tuesday night, directly after President Trump announced US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, hit an Iranian command center for southern Syria headed by Maj. Gen. Hossein Hamadani. It destroyed a consignment of Fateh 313 missiles. The delivery of this missile means that Iran is upgrading the weaponry being shipped to Syria. Fateh 313 is a short-range ballistic surface missile, whose development by Iran’s armaments industry, extended the range of the Fateh 110 to 500km and far improved its accuracy. It is also easier to install at speed. In the Al Kiswa attack, 8 Revolutionary Guards officers and men as well as Hizballah members were killed. Among them, according to some sources, was Iranian Brig. Gen. Abdul Rasoul. This has not been confirmed. There is no word on the casualties inflicted by Israel’s massive air strikes early Thursday.
