Aleppo airstrikes showcase Iran’s strategy, regional concerns - analysis

Airstrikes near Aleppo overnight on Monday were widely covered in regional media and also in Russia, illustrating how Turkey, Russia, Iran and other countries in the Gulf are all increasingly focused on what is happening in northern Syria. This is important because the Syrian regime has accused Israel of the airstrikes, claiming Syrian air defenses responded to an "Israeli aggression.” The Syrian regime had just participated in high level meetings in Jordan with several important Arab states, and Syria is hosting Iran’s president this week and recently sent a delegation to Moscow. 

The airstrikes in Aleppo are not the first of their kind. There have been numerous incidents at Aleppo airport and also neighboring areas. This is in part because Iran has increased weapons trafficking using Aleppo’s airport to move munitions and weapons to Hezbollah. Aleppo provides an easy conduit to Lebanon because trucks can pass through Homs and Qusayr, where Hezbollah has a presence. Previously Iran would use Damascus or T-4 airbase. Iran has been entrenching in Syria for years. Israel has waged a Campaign Between the Wars to reduce that entrenchment. Iran now prefers Aleppo because it thinks it is further away from Israel and it can use the area as cover. It has claimed to be helping with earthquake aid, but reports say it uses the cover of aid to move munitions. READ MORE