Did Iran use Iraqi militias to fly drones in Israel? – analysis
Netanyahu used the drone as an example of Iran providing infrastructure to terrorist groups. Details of the downed drone are still relatively scarce. He was shot on May 18 and pieces fell in an area near Beit Shean. Iranian media did not focus on the drone story. A short article from Sputnik News in Arabic mentioned it. Al-Mayadeen, who generally backs Iran and Hezbollah, also briefly mentioned the drone incident.
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The history of drones is part of a larger issue. Hamas released photos it said were taken by one of its surveillance drones over Israel and Hamas used a new drone based on Iran’s Ababil drone.
Drones were used against US forces in Erbil in the Kurdistan region in mid-April 2021 and against the al-Asad base west of Baghdad on May 8. Photos of the drone wreckage in Erbil appear to be the same gray as the drone that was shot down in northeast Israel. This indicates the Iranian origin of the drones. However, the reference to Iraq as a potential location from which the drone flew or came also hints at the involvement of Iraqi militias.
THE QUESTION is whether the drone that entered Israeli airspace on May 18 came from Syria or Iraq. What is the connection with Iraq. Iran flew a drone from Syria in February 2018 from the T-4 base. A Hezbollah drone team made up of several Hezbollah operatives attempted unsuccessfully to launch drones into Israel in August 2018. Israel carried out an airstrike against them. Israel has shot down several drones from Lebanon in the past year. In January and April. The April drone belonged to Hezbollah, the IDF said.
If Iraq-based militias prepare to fight Israel, harboring Iranian ballistic missiles and potentially using drones against Israel, that marks a serious escalation. Israel operated to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria. In July and August 2019, pro-Iranian groups in Iraq accused Israel of several airstrikes in Iraq. In August 2019, US officials appeared to confirm these airstrikes in quotes published in VOA in the United States.
The distance from Al-Qaim in Iraq or areas in Anbar province from which drones could be flown is at the extreme limit of the range of these types of drones, around 600 km. This would mean that any drone flown from Iraq would either represent the threat distance that can be reached or it was flown from Syria. Netanyahu said he was from Iraq or Syria. The mention of Iraq seems to indicate that Iraq is important in this new threat equation.
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