Syrian state TV announced that Israel bombed both Damascus and Aleppo airports on Thursday, October 12th, just a day before the Iranian foreign minister’s plane was supposed to land in the country.
According to Reuters, the local media channel Sham FM said the Syrian air defense forces scrambled in response to “bursts of missiles” hitting the two airports “simultaneously,” intentionally damaging the runways and putting both hubs out of service.
No casualties were reported from Aleppo airport, but Syrian officials gave no information about the extent of destruction or any casualties in Damascus. Technical teams were dispatched to both sites to determine the impact of the strikes.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) so far refused to comment on the airstrikes. Reuters’ sources, however, said the attacks were intended to disrupt Iranian supply lines to Hezbollah fighters in Syria and Lebanon.
Furthermore, Reuters wrote that the airstrikes were carried out a day before Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian’s scheduled trip to Syria.
Initially, a few Arab publications reported the official was already on his way when the airports were bombed, forcing his plane to return to Tehran. However, Amirabdollahian arrived at about the same time in Baghdad, Iraq, which was always intended as his first stop on his scheduled roundtrip before traveling further to Syria on Friday.
There indeed was an Iranian passenger plane that was forced to return to Tehran after the Syrian airports had been disabled by Israel, but there’s no proof yet that this plane would have carried any Iranian military officials or “tons of anti-tank missiles” intended for Hezbollah, as many users speculated on social media.
