Army Commander:

Trump's Follies to Speed up Israel's Annihilation

Rasa - Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari blasted US President Donald Trump for his irrational move against the 2015 nuclear deal, and said Washington's pullout of the agreement would bring Israel's demise and collapse even closer.

News ID: 437644

Date: 12 May 2018 - 21:20

RNA - "The treatment of the nuclear deal by sill Trump will fail to produce the results desired by the Zionists and would rather speed up annihilation of the usurper regime," General Heidari told reporters in Tehran on Saturday.

He also added that the Iranian Ground Force has a calendar which shows the time for annihilation of the usurper and child-killing Zionist regime.

His remarks came after Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Gholamali Khoshrou in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli regime's assistance and support for the terrorists in Syria.

"Israeli reckless action in this instance only helped [ISIL] and other terrorist groups in Syria. There is, indeed, enough evidence of the Israeli support to these terrorist groups… and this incident clearly demonstrates their destructive policy in assisting those groups for the purpose destabilizing the region,” Khoshrou wrote in his letter.

The Iranian ambassador pointed to the February 10 incident in which Syria downed an F-16 fighter jet belonging to Israel in response to the regime’s airstrikes on the Syrian Army positions.

The Israeli regime insists that the February 10 airstrikes on Syria was due to an Iranian drone crossing into the Israeli-held Golan Heights; a claim that was refuted by Iranian officials.

“Contrary to their made-up claim,” Khoshrou said, adding, "The drone was neither armed nor had intention for engagement or mission for possible attack anywhere."

He underlined that the Israeli regime invoked that instance for a series of so-called pre-emptive military attacks, including the attack on April 9 2018.

"Israel’s actions clearly demonstrate that the military attacks were carried out with the obvious intention to target Iranian nationals and interests legitimately deployed in the Syrian Arab Republic."

Khoshrou said that the Islamic Republic of Iran preserves its right to self-defense in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and calls upon the Security Council to uphold its responsibilities by condemning acts of aggression and asking the Israeli regime to stop its dangerous and constant adventurism and provoking behaviors which are threatening the regional peace and security.

The Israeli army said it hit dozens of Iranian military bases in Syria overnight in response to attack from within Syrian territory. But, according to battlefield reports, the Syrian Army has intercepted tens of incoming Israeli missiles, and then, reciprocated the assault with a barrage of rocket attacks on military centers in occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Army Command also said its air defense systems have managed to intercept and destroy the biggest part of Israeli rockets fired at military bases in the Arab country.

The Syrian Army Spokesman reaffirmed "the alertness of the army and readiness to defend the sovereignty of the homeland against any aggression”, stressing that attempts to support terrorism would prove futile.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that some 28 Israeli aircraft fired around 60 air-to-surface rockets in a massive overnight strike in Syria on Thursday morning, adding that Syrian air defense systems managed to intercept more than half of the missiles.

Israeli forces bombed the Syrian territory for two hours between 1:45 am and 3:45 am local time on Thursday, according to reports.

The Russian military said in a statement that “28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 planes" were involved in the assault, while “Syrian air-defense systems shot down more than half of the rockets as they repelled the Israeli attack”.

Tel Aviv said 20 rockets were fired into the Golan Heights early Thursday, and acknowledged that its well-known Iron Dome has only shot down 4 projectiles.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, told reporters that "several but not all" of the rockets were intercepted by Israeli defenses, as minutes past midnight, approximately 20 projectiles were fired towards the line of IDF positions in the Golan Heights.

The military admitted that "Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system brought down four of the rockets".

Other sources mentioned 50 to 68 rockets were fired at Israeli targets after midnight in reprisal for earlier missile attacks on Syria.

According to Fars News Agency, Israel has seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and continued to occupy two-thirds of the strategically-important territory ever since. The Tel Aviv regime has built tens of illegal settlements in the area since its occupation and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.

The Tel Aviv regime has launched sporadic attacks against various targets on Syrian soil over the past few years, in assaults slammed by Damascus as attempts to boost terrorist groups who have been suffering heavy defeats in battle against Syrian government forces.

The Syrian army has also seized Israeli-made arms and military equipment from militants fighting pro-Damascus forces on numerous occasions ever since the war of militancy started in the country. Israel has also admittedly been providing medical treatment to the militants wounded in the Arab country.

847/940