Washington: A simmering conflict between Israel and Iran escalated on Thursday when Israeli jets struck dozens of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria. The strikes came after what the Israeli military described as an Iranian rocket attack against its forces in the Golan Heights.
The Israelis said it was Iran’s first direct rocket attack against Israeli targets.
By Thursday morning, the Israeli Air Force had destroyed “nearly all” of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria, according to Israeli Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
Why is Iran in Syria?
Iran is one of the most powerful backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It first intervened in the war to help defend Assad against Syrian rebels and later helped Syrian government forces against the Islamic State.
Iran has taken advantage of the chaos of Syria’s war to build a substantial military infrastructure there. It has built and trained large Shiite militias with thousands of fighters and sent advisers from its powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps to Syrian military bases.
Read the report by Sewell Chan in The Sydney Morning Herald.