An air strike that destroyed an Iranian arms shipment intended for its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, rocked the skies over northwestern Syria about an hour after midnight Friday night. Three people were injured, according to Syrian state media, and material damage was reported.
The missile fire prevented the delivery of ammunition to Hezbollah, was aimed at the logistics structures used by Hezbollah to transfer ammunition from Syria to Lebanon, the hangers used to store the weapons, and the trucks intended to deliver them.
The strike, aimed at sites near the city of Homs, took place a few days before an Iranian arms delivery to Hezbollah was scheduled to take place.
The attack was not intended to damage Syrian government and military infrastructure, but rather to focus on Iran’s capabilities and logistics systems used to support Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.
The attack took place while Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian was in Lebanon meeting with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. While touring Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel, Abdollahian said “positive developments in the region will lead to the collapse of the Zionist entity … Zionists understand only strength.”
The Iranian minister promised Iran’s continued support for “the resistance” in the “face of the Zionist enemy.”
Also on Friday, Abdollahian announced that Iran and Saudi Arabia will open embassies in each other’s capitals “within days.”
