Cargo jets suspected by Israel and the United States of hauling weapons from Iran to Syria have made almost 200 such flights over the last twelve months, a new analysis of flight tracking data suggests.
Israeli intelligence sources have previously pointed to the flights by or linked to the two countries’ militaries as key conduits for Iran’s supply of weapons to the Syrian regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia.
Several airports and warehouses in Syria have been hit by airstrikes attributed to Israel shortly after such cargo flights have landed, including on Saturday night when cargo being disgorged from an Iranian Boeing 747 was reportedly hit by air-to-ground missiles at Damascus International Airport following its flight from Tehran.
The estimate of 187 such flights from Tehran to its top ally comes from data crunched by a Geo-Information Science Masters student from The Netherlands who closely follows aircraft movements in the Middle East.
Gerjon, who preferred to give only his first name because of the sensitivity of the subject, processed 12 months of data from flight tracking website Flightradar24 of all aircraft known to frequent the route.
Flight tracking data analyzed by i24NEWS in April shows that several airlines form the pillars of the Iran-Syria airlift, which some analysts say are front companies for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the vanguard of Tehran’s deployment in Syria.
One of those, belonging to Saha Airlines, which is believed to be a front company for the IRGC, flew to Damascus on Saturday. While it usually returns to Tehran after a few hours, it has not yet left the airport almost three days later.
A reported Israeli strike also hit the airport on Saturday night and a satellite image provided to i24NEWS by PlanetLabs, an aerial imaging company, shows a jet matching the profile of a 747 with apparent blast marks across the cargo apron the day after the strike.
The jet is parked in an area of the airport used by the Syrian air force. The same aircraft has made at least 18 flights from Tehran to Damascus over the last year, according to the analysis by Gerjon.
The data may not reveal the true extent of the air lift because some aircraft cannot be tracked due to technical reasons. It also does not include passenger flights operated by Mahan Air, which the US Treasury accuse of helping funnel weapons and fighters to Iranian and Tehran-backed fighters in Syria.
Some cargo flights are also known to land in airports or air bases in Syria that are not covered by publicly available websites.
While the flights come under close scrutiny in the US and Israel, civil war and sanctions have also severely crippled Syria’s ability to trade, so some of the flights may also carry civilian cargo.
Almost all of the flights depart from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport, which is also the city’s military and IRGC airfield.
The most active aircraft on the route are two Russian made Ilyushin-76Ts belonging to Syria’s air force, although they are painted in the colors of the country’s flag carrier, Syrian Air. Capable of carrying 40 tons, they also fly from Abadan, an Arab-majority city in southern Iran.
Aircraft belonging to Iranian airline Fars Air Qeshm are also hyperactive on the route, carrying out 63 flights from Tehran to Damascus. Its two 747-200 jumbos are capable of hauling cargo equivalent to 56 Cadillacs.
In addition to cargo aircraft, four mainly passenger airlines also fly regularly between Iran and Damascus: Iran Air, Cham Wings Air, Mahan Air and Syrian Air.
With the exception of Iran Air, the country’s flag carrier, all are sanctioned by the US.
Source » i24