Iran used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into its strategic ally Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli, and Western sources said.
The sources told Reuters that the goal was to buttress Iran's defenses against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Reuters is the first to report this development.
After the Feb. 6 earthquakes in northern Syria and Turkiye, the sources said hundreds of flights from Iran began landing in Aleppo, Damascus, and Latakia airports bringing supplies, which went on for seven weeks.
The sources said two regional sources and a Western intelligence source said the supplies included advanced communications equipment, radar batteries, and spare parts required for a planned upgrade of Syria's Iran-provided air defense system in its civil war.
Reuters spoke to Western intelligence officials, sources close to the Iranian and Israeli leaders, a Syrian military defector, and a serving Syrian officer about the flights for this article.
When asked if Iran had used humanitarian relief planes after the earthquakes to move military equipment to Syria to enhance its network and help Assad, Iran's mission to the UN in New York said: "That's not true."
Regional sources said Israel quickly became aware of the flow of weapons into Syria and mounted an aggressive campaign to counter it.
The former head of research in the Israeli army and ex-general director of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, said Israeli air strikes against the shipments relied on intelligence so specific that Israel's military knew which truck in a long convoy to target.
- "Significant Moves"
An Israeli defense official, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Under the guise of shipments of earthquake aid to Syria, Israel has seen significant movements of military equipment from Iran, mainly transported in parts."
He said the aid was mainly delivered to Syria's northern Aleppo airport.
The official indicated that the shipments were organized by the Unit 18000 Syrian division of the Quds Force, the foreign espionage and paramilitary arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, led by Hassan Mehdoui.
The Quds Force's Transport Unit 190, led by Bahanem Shahariri, handled ground transportation.
Syrian military defector Colonel Abduljabbar Akaidi, who retains army contacts, indicated that Israel's strikes also targeted a meeting of commanders of Iranian militias and shipments of electronic chips to upgrade weapons systems.
A regional source stated that Israel bombed Aleppo's runway just hours after two Iranian cargo planes had landed with arms shipments under the pretext of aid relief, which was confirmed by two other Western intelligence sources.
Head of al-Quds Force Brigadier General Esmail Qaani was the first foreign official to set foot in Syria's quake zone a few days before Assad himself arrived.
In a humanitarian catastrophe, UN relief planes can seek landing rights from local authorities, and humanitarian goods are exempt from sanctions.
Syrian authorities have granted landing rights to direct flights from Russia and Iran.
A regional source close to Iran's clerical leadership said the quake was a sad disaster, but at the same time, "it was God's help to us to help our brothers in Syria fight against their enemies. Loads of weapons were sent to Syria immediately."
Israel has for years carried out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it began supporting Assad in the civil war that started in 2011.
A Syrian army officer who asked not to be named said the Israelis were stepping up efforts to defeat Iran in Syria.
"Why now? Simply because they have information that something is being developed quickly. They must stop it and hit it to slow it. The quake created the right conditions. The chaos that ensued allowed Iranian jets to land with ease," he said.
A regional security source and two Western intelligence sources said that a radar station used for drones was also hit on Apr. 3.
"We believe that Iranian militias have transferred huge quantities of ammunition – they have restocked quantities lost in previous Israeli drone strikes," a Western intelligence source said, referring to Iranian flights since the Feb. 6 earthquakes.
