The state of Israel, now waiting until Iran implants ballistic missiles close enough to target the Jewish state, struck two Iraqi bases that stored ballistic missiles and housed Iranian forces in mid-July, according to The Jerusalem Post, which quoted London-based Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
An F-35i stealth fighter jet hit a base in the Saladin province north of Baghdad on July 19 according to Al Arabiya television news, which noted that Iranian-made ballistic missiles were transported to the base before the attack. Al Arabiya reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah members were killed in the airstrike.
Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Israel launched a second attack on Sunday on a base in Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad, where ballistic missiles had just arrived from Iran.
The Jerusalem Post added, “Last week, an explosion killed Hezbollah operative Mashour Zidan in southern Syria, and a few days later, a rocket struck the strategic Tel Haraa site not far from where Zidan was killed. Zidan … is said to have been a senior Hezbollah operative responsible for recruiting volunteers from villages near the border with Israel.”
Reuters reported at the end of August 2018:
Iran has given ballistic missiles to Shi’ite proxies in Iraq and is developing the capacity to build more there to deter attacks on its interests in the Middle East and to give it the means to hit regional foes, Iranian, Iraqi and Western sources said …
The Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar missiles in question have ranges of about 200 km to 700 km, putting Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh or the Israeli city of Tel Aviv within striking distance if the weapons were deployed in southern or western Iraq. The Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has bases in both those areas
Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly last September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted, “I also have a message today for the tyrants of Tehran: Israel knows what you’re doing, and Israel knows where you’re doing it. Israel will never let a regime that calls for our destruction to develop nuclear weapons. Not now, not in ten years, not ever. And Israel will do whatever it must do to defend itself against Iran’s aggression. We will continue to act against you in Syria. We will act against you in Lebanon. We will act against you in Iraq. We will act against you whenever and wherever we must act to defend our state and defend our people.”
He added, “In Syria, Iran is trying to establish permanent military bases against us and has already launched missiles and drones into our territory. In Gaza, Iran is arming terror groups to launch rocket attacks into our cities and terror attacks against our civilians. In Lebanon, Iran is directing Hezbollah to build secret sites to convert inaccurate projectiles into precision guided missiles, missiles that can target deep inside Israel within an accuracy of ten meters.”