On August 30, the Israeli Image Satellite Intelligence (ISI) company released new footage of what it claims it is a surface-to-surface missile (SSM) factory in Syria. The factory, which is located in the northern Tartus countryside, is in the final stages of construction, according to the Israeli company.
#Iran is a major contributor to the #Syrian #missile project, including building the new #SSM facility near #Baniyas.
For the full new #intelligence report, please visit our website: https://t.co/VlTBwdXZQ0 pic.twitter.com/FWlDpFAgvZ
— imagesatintl (@imagesatint) August 30, 2018
In its report, ISI said that Iran in involved in the construction of the new SSM factory. The Israeli company went as far as claiming that the Syrian facility has visual characteristics similar to structures built at SSM facilities in Parchin and Khojir in Iran.
Click to see full-size image, by ISI
Click to see full-size image, by ISI
Iran and Syria have been cooperating in military industry for decades now. Last week, Iran’s Minister of Defense, Amir Hatami, said during a visit to Damascus that Iran will help Syria to rebuild military factories, which have been damaged in the war.
In the recent months, several senior Israeli officials accused Syria of cooperating with Iran to develop and produce advanced SSMs in order to threaten Israel. According to these officials, the two countries are working to supply Lebanese Hezbollah with these advanced SSMs.
Despite of all of these accusations, the footage released by ISI provided no strong evidence confirming its claims. Many local observers doubt that in this very case Iran is involved and believe that the facility may be just a military base of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
