TEL AVIV – Satellite images from a military operation against an Iranian military site in Syria earlier this month show the “surgical precision” of the strike, Israel’s Channel 10 reported Sunday.
Iran, Syria, Russia and some U.S. officials have said Israel was behind the airstrikes on the T-4 base, though Israel has not confirmed or denied the reports.
The images show the burnt-out remains of an airbase hangar. The area surrounding it is largely unaffected. 14 people died in the strike, with at least seven being Iranian military men, including the head of its drone program, Col. Mehdi Dehghan.
Satellite images of the T-4 base in Syria before and after an airstrike on April 9 (Screenshot/Channel 10).
The airstrike targeted an Iranian weapons cache at the base, the TV report said. The site also housed Russian and Syrian military equipment, including air defense systems, which remained intact.
“[The raid] was a barrage of small explosives designed to destroy the contents of the hanger, but not damage unintended targets,” Channel 10 said.
The T-4 airbase has been targeted by Israel on at least two occasions in the past, including, most recently, in February following the incursion by an explosives-laden drone into Israeli airspace. According to Israel, which admitted it carried out February’s strike, the drone was launched from a command center at T-4.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday said Israel’s routine operations in Syria would have “consequences.”
“I do not believe that we are headed towards regional war, but I do believe that, unfortunately, Israel has continued its violations with international law, hoping to be able to do it with impunity because of the US support and trying to find smokescreens to hide behind,” Zarif told CBS News.
“And I do not believe that the smokescreens work anymore,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later warned the world not to heed Zarif’s “moderate” remarks, saying there was a “huge gap” between what he might tell an American TV station versus the on-the-ground entrenchment by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which is “advancing an army against Israel.”
“I heard the remarks of the Iranian foreign minister, who accuses Israel of violating international law,” Netanyahu said. “He is the foreign minister of a country that deploys armed drones to Israel and missiles to Saudi Arabia.”
“I also heard his moderate remarks, and there is a huge gap between his words and the actions of the Revolutionary Guards, who are advancing an army against Israel with the stated aim of destroying Israel,” the prime minister continued. “I’m unimpressed by his remarks.”
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