This is the third time in the past week that a Syria’s air defense base has fended off rocket attacks on the city of Damascus and the town of Sayyidah Zeinab in its 10 km.
Two missiles, fired at about 5:40 am on Sunday, were neutralized by a Buk-M2E system delivered by Russia to a Syrian air defense base. Besides, the incident occurred when Israeli F-16s fired at unidentified targets in the town.
According to some sources, the missiles allegedly fired by Israel, are of the group of chemical weapons. However, the purpose of this unknown attack, which did not target civilian areas and did not cause any casualties, is interpreted in various forms. For example, Russian sources say that in the past two weeks, Israel has repeatedly violated the Syrian airspace from Lebanon and illegally flew F-16 fighter jets over Homs. Israel says it is doing so to protect from Iran's terrorist groups in Syria.
Political expert Sadraddin Soltan, head of the Center for Middle East Studies, gave an interview to Eurasia Diary.
- The Russian Defense Ministry says that Israel has carried out illegal air raids on Homs from the direction of Lebanon in the last two weeks. Although Israel sees this as a defense against Iran's terror groups, Syria condemns the move as a threat to its sovereignty. Could this lead to any tension between Syria and Israel?
- In fact, you know that this is not the first case. Such an event has been repeated many times and is happening. One of the main reasons is the location of Bashar al-Assad's Shairat military base. The question may be why the Syrian military base. I would like to add that Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian armed forces are stationed at this base. In addition, the military base is a strategic area where Russian MiG-23 and SU-22 aircrafts are stationed. The result shows that Israel's bombing of Homs is not just targeting a single base, but also neutralising a strategic military base that both Iran, Assad's forces and Russia consider a threat to Israel itself. However, I would like to add that the other strategic purpose of this will be clear after the official announcement of the Israeli side.
As for the question, in general, relations between Syria and Israel remain tense as always. Even if the government of Israel changes, the tension will not decrease in the least. This can be explained by the rocket fire on the mentioned targets in Syria.
Finding a common language between Israel and Syria may depend on certain conditions. One is that Syria does not openly support the Iran-backed Hezbollah, and does not continue to take a tough stance against the unknown Golan Heights on the Syrian border. Another key issue is that Bashar al-Assad does not defend Russia and Iran, and leaves the government and is replaced by a proper one. It does not look hopeful. For this reason, relations will remain tense for a long time.
- Some sources say that Russia and Iran, allies, want to provoke Israel into a game or provocation through Syria, where they have taken refuge. How true are these statements?
I would like to note that the establishment of warm relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cannot be welcomed by either Iran or Russia. Because both sides want tensions between Israel and the Arab world to continue. The main reason for this is to share Arab ties with Israel, to attract Arab countries only to Iran and Russia, and at the same time to expand the sale of Russian weapons to Arab states. This can undoubtedly lead to the strengthening of Russia's position in the region. On the contrary, as Israel strengthens its ties with the Arab world, the positions of Russia and Iran in Syria will be seriously undermined. The reason is that anti-Assad forces and other Arab organizations in Syria are backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- What is the strategic importance of Sayyidah Zeinab? Why did Israeli missiles target this place?
- The answer to this question depends on the second question. As I said, anti-Assad forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Syria are deeply concerned about Syria, Iran and Russia. To prevent this, both Iran and Syria allegedly accused Israel of bombing the Sayyidah Zaynab, which is important to the Islamic world. In fact, the Assad regime in Syria has repeatedly used chemical weapons against civilians in the past and has never abandoned it.
Syria's claim that Israel fired an unidentified rocket at the town can only be seen as a provocative message by the Assad regime, especially by Iran to the Islamic world.
I would like to note about this settlement that it is one of the sensitive points of Islam. The area where the daughter of the fourth Islamic Caliph Imam Ali and the grandchild of our prophet Muhammad (pbu), Hanum Zeinab were buried, and the mausoleum was built, is located 10 km from Damascus. Since the area is religiously important to all Islamic countries, Iran tries to misuse it by organising a campaign against Israel together with its allies. Therefore, I assume targeting the town Sayyidah Zaynab may be just a provocation.
