RTSat, 10 Feb 2018 18:05 UTC
© Morteza Nikoubazl / ReutersMembers of Iran's Revolutionary Guards
Tehran has dismissed Tel Aviv's claims concerning an Iranian UAV and a downed Israeli jet as "ridiculous." An Iranian commander also warned Iran could unleash "hell" on the "Zionist regime" and destroy all US bases in the area."The claim about the flight of an Iranian drone and Iran's involvement in the downing of a Zionist fighter jet is so ridiculous that it does not merit a comment," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said. He added that Iranian officials are acting in Syria only as advisers and do so "at the request of the... legitimate and lawful government."
What's more, any "aggressive actions" by Tel Aviv would trigger a serious response. That is because Iran is capable of creating "hell for the Zionists," Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the deputy head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps,
said.
Qassemi added that Syria is a sovereign state and its government and armed forces, have a "legitimate right to defend [its] territorial integrity and counter any kind of foreign aggression." In the early hours of Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed they intercepted an Iranian UAV, which crossed from the territory of Syria into Israel. In response, Israel conducted airstrikes on Iranian positions in Syria.The Israeli military later said that one Israeli F-16 crashed due to the "massive Syrian anti-air fire." The pilots ejected and survived the incident. In response to the crash, the IDF said it struck 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including air defense batteries.
Damascus denounced Israeli actions as "aggression." Touching upon the US policy towards Iran and the sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic, Salami said that Iran remains strong against all odds and could potentially destroy "all American military bases in the region by launching attacks from inside the country."
Tensions between Israel and Iran rapidly flared up following the Saturday incident. The IDF warned Syria and Iran against "violating" its sovereignty by saying that both countries would pay a heavy price if they defy this warning. It also said that Tehran and Damascus are "playing with fire."
Comment: See also:
Syria Shoots Down Israeli Jet - It's About TimeLittle known fact: according to the rules of the Israeli lexicon, there is no such thing as an Israeli offensive attack. Such a thing is morally, physically, and linguistically impossible. When Israel's enemies strike first, Israel responds in self-defense. When Israel strikes first, it is only "self-defensing" itself against future attacks. And according to said lexicon's grammar, this also means that no other country can similarly "self-defense" itself against Israel. If their enemies fire first, it is never to protect against future Israeli offensives (which don't exist in theory or in practice), and when they attack in response to an Israeli attack, it is only because said enemies were planning to strike first anyway, but Israel "self-defensed" itself first.
With that in mind, here's Netanyahu's
response:
"Our policy is clear: Israel will defend itself against any aggression and any attempt to violate its sovereignty," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as cited by Israeli media. He also accused Iran of undertaking such an attempt on Saturday, referring to an incident involving an Iranian drone intercepted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) earlier that day.
What all this really means, of course, is that Israel feels it has free license to violate other nations sovereignty routinely - as it has done countless of times in its history. When Israelis invade foreign airspace, launch unprovoked military strikes, and kill foreign nationals, they are explicitly violating that nation's sovereignty. That would ordinarily be considered an act of war. (Technically, Israel and Syria are still in a state of war and have been for decades, but that only means that only Israel can violate Syria's sovereignty and not vice versa.)
According to an Israeli commander, the recent attack on Syria was the
largest in decades:
Brigadier General Tomer Bar, the Israeli Air Force's second-in-command, told journalists that its airstrikes on Syria on Saturday morning were "the biggest and most significant attack the air force has conducted against Syrian air defenses since Operation Peace for the Galilee" during the Lebanese Civil War in 1982.
The strikes were launched in response to the downing of an F-16 fighter jet earlier this morning, which was claimed by Syria. The F-16 was sent on a combat run over Syria after the Israeli military said an Iranian drone was spotted in northern Israel.
Bar said the retaliatory airstrikes inflicted "significant harm to the Syrian Air Force's defenses," which included "anti-aircraft batteries purchased in recent deals [with Russia]," along with Iranian targets.
anyhow, i think it is safe to say the era of 1940-2000 is definitely not here anylonger. it only exist in the heads of morons and dotards.