جيرازلم بوست: تقارير عن منع طائرات حربية روسية سلاح الجوي الإسرائيلي من استهداف شحنات أسلحة متطورة إيرانية وصلت إلى سوريا/Jerusalem Post: Russian Su-35 jets scrambled to stop Israel over Syria – reports

Russian Su-35 jets scrambled to stop Israel over Syria – reports
جيرازلم بوست: تقارير عن منع طائرات حربية روسية سلاح الجوي الإسرائيلي من استهداف شحنات أسلحة متطورة إيرانية وصلت إلى سوريا
Jerusalem Post/December 09/2019

The reports claim that “Israeli fighters had to flee from the Russian Su-35” and at the same time that “Iran delivered unknown air defense systems to Syria.”
Iranian and Russian media reported that Russian Su-35s were scrambled from Russia’s Khmeimim air base in Syria to intercept an alleged Israeli attack near T-4 earlier this month. The report, first put online in a blog at Avia and then picked up by the website Almasdar News and then Tasnim News in Iran claimed that the Su-35s sought to intercept Israeli planes over Syria.
The reports claim that “Israeli fighters had to flee from the Russian Su-35” and at the same time that “Iran delivered unknown air defense systems to Syria.” The incident occurred over T-4 or Tiyas base east of Homs in Syria. The base is a well-known transit point for Iranian weapons and has Russian personnel at it. Israel has been accused of striking the area in the past. In May 2018 Ynet said that Israel had carried out an airstrike to destroy an Iranian 3rd Khordad Air Defense system at T-4. Syria claimed more airstrikes hit the area in June and July of this year and September last year.
The reports at the Avia website follow other reports at the same site that often write sensational accounts about alleged Israeli actions in Syria. For instance the same site reported on December 8 that “Israel is preparing new strikes on Syria.” Al-Masdar News reported that the Iranian Bavar-373 air defense was deployed to the area. Both reports appeared to rely on a Twitter account named @Syrian_MC for their information. That account indicated that Russia had scrambled its jets and that the “incident” ended on December 6.
The National Interest reported that Su-35s had been scrambled in August and “forced Israeli aircraft out of Syrian airspace,” and the website DefenseWorld made a similar claim in September. Other defense websites have argued the SU-35 is a capable fighter, deployed to Syria in small numbers after it became operational in 2014. Russia’s TASS said in 2018 the fighter is “battle tested in Syrian skies.” It is a 4th Generation “plus” fighter that is super maneuverable and can fly up to 2,500 kilometers an hour. That’s a bit faster than an F-16.
Iran’s Tasnim media appeared to celebrate the claim that Russia had “pursued” Israeli aircraft and “forced” them to leave. The story emerged at the same time as reports that satellite images had shown a cargo plane land at T-4 and unload munitions that could be used in a “revenge attack” by Iran against Israel, according to Israel HaYom. Those images were from November 21, a day after the airstrikes Israel says it carried out against Iranian IRGC targets in Syria. “A large cargo trailer on the runway of the Iran operated T-4 base located in Homs district,” was shown. “Israel reportedly refrained from targeting the T-4 base due to its division into three areas controlled by Russian, Iranian and Syrian army, raising challenges that would require precise coordination with Moscow on top of the base’s more formidable security arsenal that include the S-300 anti-aircraft system.” Russia provided S-300s to Syria in October 2018 after a Syrian S-200 shot down a Russian plane during an Israeli airstrike in Latakia. The incident caused a momentary crises with Russia at the time.
Syrian air defense is known for shooting its S-200s wildly, one time shooting a missile that hit Cyprus by mistake in July 2019, and in 2017 firing a missile that had to be downed by an Arrow air defense system over Jordan, according to the BBC.
Russia released information on November 21 accusing Israel of four days of attacks in Syria in November, including the November 20 raids and an airstrike at Albukamal and two near Damascus on November 12 and November 19. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov today to discuss various issues, including Syria. Pompeo met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Portugal last week and Oman’s foreign minister on November 26. When Netanyahu met Pompeo on December 5 he said that Israel was actively countering Iranian aggression. Pompeo expressed support for Israel’s countering of Iran in August and October. On December 5 the New York Times reported Iran is transferring short range ballistic missiles to Iraq that threaten Israel. Airstrikes Saturday near Albukamal killed five pro-Iranian fighters.

Report: Russian fighter jets thwarted Israeli attack in Syria
Yoav Zitun,Itay Blumenthal,Daniel Salami|/Ynetnews/December 09/2019
According to Russian military aviation blog, IAF airstrike was planned for last Saturday and targeted advanced weapons shipment, which included high-tech defense systems, from Iran to secret T-4 airbase
Two Russian Su-35 fighter jets on Saturday thwarted an Israeli airstrike on the T-4 airbase in southern Syria, causing the Israeli craft to return to base, the Russian military aviation blog AVIA.PRO reported on Monday. The blog also reported that the Israeli attack had been planned against an advanced weapons shipment from Iran to the airbase, which included advanced air defense systems. As of now, the location of these air defense systems is unknown. However, since most of the airstrikes attributed to Israel have taken place on the outskirts of Damascus (in the area of its international airport) or on the Syria-Iran border, the report said, it is undeniable that the Iranian-made system is now located within those two areas. The report further stated that the system might have middle- to long-distance aerial capabilities.
The report comes in light of an additional shipment Sunday en route from Tehran to T-4. A day earlier, an Iranian Boeing 747 used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps also arrived in Damascus from Tehran.
In the past, a similar aircraft, which is currently under repair, has transferred fighting equipment to Iran’s Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah.
Israel has reportedly on several occasions attacked these shipments after they arrived in Syria. According to foreign sources, the T-4 airbase stores Iranian-made parts for drones and is used as a transit point for weapons shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In recent times, the Iranians have increased their shipments and presence in the area, with a rise in the number of various militant groups in the area, from about 30,000 militiamen to 40,000 militiamen over the last year. Some of these militias are operated by the Al-Quds wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and have launched in the past several rockets towards Israel.