Report: 'Large-Scale Explosion' At Iranian Weapons Depot Hours After Trump Strike
Hours after an American-led attack struck Syria’s chemical weapons facilities, a massive explosion was reported at an Iranian arms depot in Syria, according to The Times of Israel, which said it learned about the attack by monitoring Arabic-language media.
The depot is located at Mount Azzan near Aleppo. No one claimed responsibility for what the Israeli outlet referred to as a “large-scale explosion.”
Media outlets affiliated with Iranian-linked militias and the group Hezbollah downplayed talk of an attack, and said reports mistook a controlled explosion for an attack, according to Haaretz.
However, the U.K. Daily Mail said reports emerging from Syria claimed the attack was carried out by Israeli fighter jets.
Airstrikes targeting Iranian militants in Jabal Ezzan in northern Aleppo countryside#Syria pic.twitter.com/0Ks6LsqnV3
— Majd khalaf (@majdkhalaf1993) April 14, 2018
Al-Arabiya quotes SOHR as confirming that an explosion took place in Jabal Azzan in the Aleppo Province. Nature of the explosion unconfirmed #Syria https://t.co/FvyKffOeS6
— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) April 14, 2018
Israel, which does not often comment on its military activities, is believed to have launched a missile strike Monday against a target in the Syria. It did not confirm that attack.
The attack on Mount Azzan led to Iranian casualties, the Daily Mail’s report said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Iranian forces were in the area where the attack took place.
A second base near Deir ez-Zor in Syria may also have been targeted.
Also Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supports the U.S.-led attack on three Syrian sites that made or stored chemical weapons.
“A year ago, I made clear that Israel fully supports the decision by President Trump to stand against the use and spread of chemical weapons,” a statement from Netanyahu read.
“Trump’s resolve and Israel’s support remain unchanged,” the Israeli prime minister added.
Netanyahu said it should be “clear to (Syrian) President Assad that “his reckless efforts to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction, his wanton disregard for international law and his provision of a forward base for Iran and its proxies endanger Syria.”
Israel also announced on Saturday that a drone launched at Israel from Syria in February was armed and on an Iranian mission when it was shot down by Israel.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu spoke on the phone Saturday with his counterpart from the United Kingdom — British Prime Minister Theresa May — about the troubled region.
Netanyahu said he “reiterated that the element that is undermining the Middle East more than any other is Iran, and that President Assad must understand that when he allows Iran and its proxies to establish its military presence in Syria, he is endangering Syria and the stability of the entire region.”
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