Israeli Air Raid on Homs Airport Targets Iranian Commanders

A source speaking exclusively to IranWire has denied news that the commander of the Quds Force was killed during Israeli air raids on Syria on the evening of 31 March, but confirmed that the raids had targeted Iranian commanders. 

The source, who follows Iranian affairs closely and requested anonymity to maintain his safety, said that Commander Ismail Qaani was not at Al-Shu'airat airport in the Syrian governorate of Homs during the Israeli bombing, despite Syrian and Lebanese media having reported his death.

The Quds Force carries out extra-territorial and intelligence missions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Its former commander, Ghasem Soleimani, was killed in Iraq in January by US forces.

The source IranWire spoke to explained that Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, head of the Iranian army's Center for Strategic Studies, was presiding over a meeting of Quds Force commanders at Al-Shu'airat Airport at the time of the Israeli air raids, noting that the aircraft passed over Lebanese territory.

An individual with links to the military in Baghdad said that Qaani was in the Iraqi capital during the attack, and was accompanied by Hadi Al-Amiri, who heads an Iran-backed Shia organization in Iraq, and Nuri Al-Maliki, a former Iraqi prime minister and vice president and prominent Shia party politician.

According to the source, eight missiles hit Al-Shu'airat Airport, and other missiles were downed by the airport's air defenses.

"On the afternoon of March 31, a shipment of weapons arrived at Al-Shu'airat Airport, and as such, there was a meeting between officers of the Fourth Division, Lebanese Hezbollah, and commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, including Ahmad Reza Pourdastan."

The source pointed out that Al-Shu'airat Airport is controlled and managed by Iranian militias, and is one of the most important supply points for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Further to this, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) also announced that "air defenses responded to an Israeli missile attack in eastern Homs, having shot down several missiles before they could reach their targets."

According to SANA, "At exactly 8.25 pm on March 31, Israeli warplanes passed over Lebanon and launched a number of missiles toward eastern Homs."

In recent weeks, Israeli aircraft launched airstrikes on positions held by the Syrian regime's forces and Iranian militias in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surrounding countryside, causing numerous deaths, including the deaths of officers.

Since the outbreak of war in Syria in 2011, Israel has launched a series of raids on Syrian territory aimed at Iranian targets and groups loyal to Tehran. Israel has also repeatedly affirmed that it will continue to counter what it describes as Iran's attempts to solidify its military presence in Syria and send advanced weapons to Hezbollah.