Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Thursday night that the rocket fire from Syria on the Golan Heights, which Israel believes was a direct order of Iran, was a “promo” for what will happen once the sanctions on Iran are lifted.
“The shooting toward Israel this evening was carried out by a terrorist cell of the Islamic Jihad, operated, funded and armed by Iran. The shooting took place from territory controlled by the [Bashar Al-]Assad regime, which allows terrorist activity against Israel, and we consider it responsible [for the attack],” Ya’alon said in a statement.
“The IDF attacked in the last few hours, using artillery and aerial attacks, a rocket launching area and military targets belonging to Assad. We will not tolerate attempts to breach Israel’s sovereignty and undermine the security of its citizens, we will respond firmly and strongly against anyone who challenges us. I do not propose that they test our resolve. We will act responsibly and judiciously to maintain the security of Israeli citizens,” continued the Defense Minister.
“The Iranian regime, through its Al-Quds Force, commander Qassem Soleimani and his envoys to Syria and Lebanon, seeks to open up a terrorist front against Israel from the Golan Heights, and is smuggling weapons and training terrorist squads for that purpose,” he said.
“Following the signing of the nuclear deal with Iran and the removal of the economic sanctions imposed on it, what we saw tonight might be the promo to a richer and more murderous Iran. One that can streamline money and large amounts of weapons to terrorist organizations to harm Israel and Western interests in the region and beyond,” warned Ya’alon.
“This is the intention of the bloody regime of Tehran, and the Western world must not sweep this fact under the carpet,” he concluded.
The IDF said on Thursday night that, in response to the firing of rockets from Syria, it had launched artillery and air strikes against Syrian army positions in the Golan Heights.
Ya’alon’s comments came after a senior officer said that Iran was behind the rocket attack from Syria.
The officer said that the directive to fire the rockets was personally given out by the head of the Palestinian department in Iran’s Al-Quds force.
The senior officer’s comments regarding Iran’s involvement in the attack are in line with a report from April, when Iranian officials reportedly told the Syrian regime to strike Israel and open a war front on the Golan.