Two Russian Su-35 fighter jets reportedly thwarted an Israeli airstrike against an Iranian weapons shipment in Syria over the weekend.
According to the Russian military aviation blog AVIA.PRO, an Israeli aerial fighter wing that aimed to target an Iranian weapons shipment at the T-4 military airbase in southern Syria was forced to abort its mission when Russian fighter-jets scrambled to the area in an apparent effort to thwart the anticipated Israeli strike.
The report, which was widely re-published by both Israeli and international media further claimed that the Iranian shipment included advanced surface to air missile systems with medium to long-range capabilities.
It is important to note that the report was published a day after two separate civilian aircraft were travelled from Tehran to Syria’s T-4 airbase and the Damascus international airport. While both the Russian and Israeli militaries maintain a policy of not discussion operational matters with the media overtly; Senior military sources, who spoke with TV7 on condition of anonymity, sought to refute the report – which they insisted is ‘inconsistent with the Israeli-Russian coordination-mechanism that aims to assure deconfliction in Syria between the two respective militaries.’