Iran denies reports its weapons targeted in Syria

Revolutionary Guards official says arms targeted in Syria didn't come from Iran adding that 'Syria doesn't need Iran's military aid'. Rights group says at least 15 soldiers killed in strike

News agencies|Published: 05.06.13 , 14:37

A top Iranian general said any arms Israel targeted in Syria did not come from the Islamic Republic, in remarks published on the Revolutionary Guards website on Monday.

Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri “denied Western and Israeli media reports that an Iranian weapons depot has been targeted in Syria,” the website reported.

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“The Syrian government does not need Iran’s military aid, and these sorts of reports are propaganda and psychological war,” added the deputy chief of the armed forces.

Meanwhile, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said on Monday that the alleged Israeli strikes on Syrian military targets over the weekend killed at least 15 soldiers and dozens more were unaccounted for.

“At least 15 soldiers were killed, and dozens more are missing” after the strikes near Damascus early on Sunday, the Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency.

היערכות צה"ל בגבול (צילום: אביהו שפירא)

IDF deployment on border area (Photo: Avihu Shapira)

“These three sites (targeted) would usually have around 150 soldiers in them, but it’s not clear if they were all there at the time of the strikes.”

In Israel, the IDF 's Northern Command said that Israel's northern airspace is expected to reopen for commercial flights in the coming hours. On Sunday, It was decided to halt flights until Thursday due to tensions in the north. Northern Command Chief Major General Yair Golan said "there are no winds of war."

Also Monday, a US intelligence official said that Washington was not given any warning before the air strikes in Syria.

Without confirming that Israel was behind the attacks, the intelligence official said that the United States was essentially told of the air raids "after the fact" and was notified as the bombs went off.

"It would not be unusual for them to take aggressive steps when there was some chance that some sophisticated weapons system would fall into the hands of people like Hezbollah ," the US intelligence official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.