Report: Iran Sent Weapons to Syria under Cover of Quake Aid Flights

Iran has used relief flights meant for earthquake victims to transport weapons and military equipment to Syria, Reuters quoted nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli and Western sources as saying.

The sources said shipments were intended to fortify Iran’s defenses against Israel in Syria and to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

After the earthquake struck northern Syria and Turkey on February 6, Iran sent hundreds of flights to Syria, delivering supplies for seven weeks, they said.

The aid included advanced communications equipment, radar batteries and spare parts for Syria's Iran-provided air defense system, according to several sources.

An unidentified Israeli defense official said the aid was mainly delivered to Syria´s northern Aleppo airport. The shipments were organized by the Unit 18000 Syrian division of the Quds Force, the expeditionary force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Israel was said to have launched a campaign to counter the flow of weapons into Syria.

Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, a former head of research in Israel’s army, said that Israeli airstrikes against the shipments relied on intelligence so specific that the military knew which truck in a long convoy to target.

"Israel's strikes also targeted a meeting of commanders of Iranian militias and shipments of electronic chips to upgrade weapons systems," said Colonel Abduljabbar Akaidi, a Syrian military defector who retains contacts in the army.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years targeting Iranian forces, Syrian government positions and allied militias.

Dozens of IRGC members have been killed in Syria during the country’s 12-year civil war, in which Tehran and Moscow are backing Assad.