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Voiceover by Harold Hoover
Government forces, led by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) captured more points north of the Sunbul gas station in the Ayn Tarma area in eastern Damascus. The advance came amid intense shelling of Faylaq al-Rahman positions in Ayn Tarma and Jobar conducted by the SAA 4th Armoured Division with “Volcano” and “Golan” heavy rockets.
Faylaq al-Rahman claimed that its members killed 17 SAA troops and damaged an SAA T-72AV battle tank in the recent clashes and once again accused the government forces of using chlorine gas in the area.
The chemical weapons usage accusations are a common part of PR strategy of any anti-government forces around Syria. The accusations have become especially frequent after the US missile strike on the Syrian Air Force’s Shayrat Air Base that followed the incident at Khan Shaykhun.
In Homs province, the SAA Tiger Forces liberated a gas station southwest of the Kawm oasis and advanced on the Minshar Mount and the nearby village of Taybah. Meanwhile, the SAA and its allies advanced against ISIS north of the Shair Mount. Both of the advances are a part of the wider SAA effort aimed at establishing control over entirety of eastern Homs which should create a foothold for further advance on Deir Ezzor.
The Israeli media reported that Iran is building a facility in northwest Syria to manufacture long-range missiles and showed satellite images allegedly depicting the site under construction. The images show an alleged missile factory near Baniyas which appears to be identical to Iranian factories built in Tehran. The construction on the site allegedly started last year and is expected to be finished by the end of 2017.
Earlier reports appeared that Iran was allegedly building subterranean weapons factories for Hezbollah in Lebanon. At least one of the factories was reportedly located near Hermel in the eastern Bekaa Valley and was used to produce Fateh-110 medium-range missiles.
If reports are confirmed, this will be just another indication of the growing Iranian influence in the region. Success of the Russian-Iranian-Syrian operations against ISIS and al-Qaeda are one of the reasons behind this progress.
Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again stated Iran was strengthening its foothold in Syria as ISIS was losing ground in the country. He added that Israel was watching developments and would act against any threat to Israel’s security.
Checking the reported location of Baniyas, Syria where the “missile factory” is being built, indicates that the facility will be midway between Russian Naval Base at Tartous and AFB at Latakia.
Thus, very well protected by Russian missile defenses and other defensive systems, one would think. However, Putin has indicated he doesn’t shield anything but Russian assets.
That may change if he decides to exert leverage on settling the Golan dispute.
Will be a very tough target for Israel except standing off in the Mediterranean for missile shots straight into Syria.
US will assist on such a strike.
What is frightening is the forseeability of what follows, with Iran setting up conditions guaranteeing an Israeli strike, most likely with tactical nukes as they did in 2015, just as Israel’s top security officials make their way to Washington for discussions with senior officials from the Trump administration. No wonder Netanyahu was so chipper after his meeting with the sock puppet in chief.
Iran’s duplicitious role throughout this conflict is plain for all to see, whether it was ‘reorganizing’ the Syrian military as a Shia militia in 2014, leading directly to total disaster for the SAA’s formerly professional and predominantly volunteer army, while simultaneously turning the war in Syria into a Clash of Civilizations. Or as with Iran’s brewing Coalition of the Theocratically Minded, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey, Qatar and facilitated by the Zionist oligarchy in London, as reported by Thierry Meyssan.
A wind of secularism blows over the Muslim world
Donald Trump’s speech in Riyadhh has sparked a wave of declarations against terrorism and against political Islam. The Arab world is expressing its thirst for secularism at the very moment that it is being misrepresented in Europe and used against religions. Faced with this breath of liberty, the British are organising the camp of political Islam around Qatar, Iran, Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article196804.html
Iranian political leadership is intimately intertwined with Anglo-American interests, including Hassan Rouhani and his oligarch sponser Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, who have been busily aquiring assets in places like Canada while literally giving away over $100 billion in seized Iranian assets during nuclear negotiations.
Ooops, no soup for you people of Iran!
Please follow the links below. The game of Iranian leadership is as plain as the turban on Hassan Rouhani’s head.
http://iranzamin2500.blogspot.ca/2007/01/re-mullah-rafsanjani-and-his-familys.html
http://www.voltairenet.org/article187251.html
http://www.voltairenet.org/article181291.html
Exactly.
Treaty Violation? Damascus Claims to Find US, UK Chemical Weapons in Syria
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708181056563391-syria-chemical-weapons-convention-violation/
“The Syrian Foreign Ministry has claimed that they have discovered chemical weapons that were manufactured in the United States and the United Kingdom among the possessions of opposition groups in the country. Analysts say that, if this is true, the US and UK are in violation of international treaties.
The claims are “all at this point, according to the Syrian deputy foreign minister, coming officially out of the Syrian government,” said Sloboda. “To me what’s most striking about this news is that you won’t find any of it reported in the Western media whatsoever. The only way you’ll find it is in the Russian media or sources drawing links from the Syrian government media. There is an automatic assumption in the Western media that we just ignore anything and everything that the Syrian government says. Now, we certainly shouldn’t take everything they say at face value, any more than we should what the US government, the Russian government, any government says, but to completely reject and not report on what the Syrian government is … a complete failure of journalism.”
The western zio-gay media is psywar.
“Faylaq al-Rahman claimed…
Chlorine gas…
Chemical attacks…
Israeli media reports…
Netanyahoo stated…”
What’s up with SouthFront?
A friend of friend tells me:
– ISIS has collapsed in Central Homs. Official announcement pending
– game over for ISIS trapped in Hama pocket
– the SAA and allies have regained complete control of the roads between Ithriyah-Palmyra-T4-al Sukhnah-Resafa-Sfaiyeh
/
Total collapse of high-on-captagon ISIS inside Hama/Homs. SAA & allies give retreating ISIS no rest. SAAF and RuAF flying nonstop, targeting ‘everything that moves’. Twitter-sphere is busy with new announcements every hour or so.
/
The SAA has reached the outskirts of Uqayribat. ISIS fleeing.
/
Several mini-cauldrons in the making.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHfeul0UMAEqvO-.jpg
/
Meanwhile in western/northern Qalamoun: SAA and Hezbollah have made substantial gains this morning. Can the Lebanese Army keep up with the rapid progress ?
I was hoping this SouthFront article would make it to the Saker so that I could hear what professionals had to say about it, but unfortunately aside from the first comment I’m not seeing much of that. A shame.
When I first saw this report I thought it was typical Israeli bullshit, casting about for any excuse to continue intervention in Syria and seize more of the Golan. “We know these are Iranian missile factories, because these are rectangular buildings and missiles were built in rectangular buildings before…” is hardly compelling evidence. It was especially suspect since apparently construction started some time ago, at a time when I would think Assad would have been far more worried about hanging on for dear life and not looking for an extravagance like his own missile factory.
However, with Israel’s own use of missiles recently, and of course the US and Russia, and the brouhaha with NK, I have to admit it might not be so far fetched after all. Assad might be coming to see that having the ability to directly threaten serious strikes on Israeli, Saudi, and Turkish (among others) targets, even with conventional missiles, may be the only way a small country can get any “respect” these days.
If Iran has a weapons factory in Syria and the Syrians are ok with it what’s it got to do with anybody else?
Israel is the last place on Earth which has any right to complain. Hell, they stole and are occupying somebody else’s whole country !