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Israeli Air Raid on Syrian Port Followed Arrival of Iranian Container Ship
(The War Zone) Thomas Newdick - Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows the aftermath of Tuesday's Israeli airstrike on the Syrian port of Latakia. Multiple shipping containers were damaged as the result of four separate weapons impacts, although no apparent harm was done to the area immediately surrounding the port. The attack appears astonishingly precise, striking only individual or small groups of containers. The attack may be connected to the arrival of the Iranian-flagged container vessel Shiba, which unloaded a consignment of containers at Latakia two days earlier. The ship is owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. for transporting military cargoes on behalf of Tehran. Russian Deputy Admiral Oleg Zhuravlyov said Russian-operated air defense systems did not react because the attack coincided with the arrival of a Russian transport aircraft that landed at the main Russian airbase in Syria at Khmeimim, less than 10 miles away. However, it is known that Russia is notified by Israel in advance of Syrian airstrikes and there exists an agreement under which its air defenses do not engage the Israeli Air Force. The attack is the second on Latakia port this month. It serves as a reminder that Israel is willing to take direct action to stop Iran from establishing a larger military foothold in Syria and to degrade its ability to bolster Hizbullah's arms stockpiles in Lebanon.