After the weekend news of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s threat to ‘open the gates of hell’ over the Zionist regime (not the first such threat) and all American bases, we look at the headlines from pre-MSM (mainstream media) DEBKAfile and a few from MSM in Israel as a synopsis of latest events in Israel and in Syria. Links are provided should you wish to read further (MSM ones are slowed by adverts):

NB: Underlined items all now available (added 14 & 15 Feb ) per further Update with explanation of Iran’s deep animosity towards Israel:

• 16 Jan – Fading Trump-Putin trust derails pre-escalation zones on Syria’s borders with Israel, Jordan
• 28 Jan – Putin plans to end Alawite hegemony in Damascus and evict pro-Iranian Shiite militias, including Hizballah
• 1 Feb – Russia builds 4 new air bases, deploys another 6,000 troops in Syria
• 7 Feb – Secret Iranian missile factory in Lebanon requires pre-emptive Israel attack (this reports recent Netanyahu-Putin talks)
• 8 Feb – US artillery and air strike Hizballah and Iranian forces in East Syria
• 9 Feb – More on US strike: Russians who laid Euphrates bridge among targets
• 10 Feb – Israel urges Russia to prevent escalation in Syria
• 10 Feb – Russian troops were involved in Iranian-Syrian clash with Israel
• 10 Feb – Israel intercepts Iranian drone, F-16 hit whilst striking (I-S source)
• 10 Feb – Moscow implies Israel air offensive hit Iranian, Syrian & Hizballah targets
• 11 Feb – Israel said to have conveyed a warning to Iran before latest flare-up
• 11 Feb – Israel: Iran’s aggression from Syria escalated faster than expected
• 13 Feb – Upto 200 Russian ‘advisers’ killed in last week’s clash with US forces.

Yesterday’s DEBKAfile report Iran’s Saegheh drone in Syria a worry for US as well as Israel gives penetrating insights into this conflict, as hinted in this extract:

‘The infiltrator drone was discovered to have been part of a whole fleet of advanced armed Saegheh UAVs housed at the T-4 base. The second wave of Israeli air strikes against 12 Syrian and Iranian targets decimated this fleet. Most importantly, the drone intrusion and its sequel exposed the incident to have been no one-off,  but part of a calculated Iranian plot against Israel at the highest level, that was coordinated in advance with the Russian air force, which shares the use of T-4, and the Syrian air defense systems, which operate under Russian command. It is equally important to note that Iran brought its Saegheh UAV’s to Syria with Moscow’s consent.
This may be accounted for by the drone’s unique provenance.

‘In a long and arduous process of reverse engineering, Iran’s munitions industry copied some of the components of the CIA’s most secret stealth drone, the RQ-170 Sentinel, after it was intercepted and captured over Iran in December 2011. The American drone, armed and capable of detecting clandestine nuclear tests, is rated the finest UAV of its kind in operation. Tehran claimed it had intercepted the Sentinel’s overflight by taking control of the American surveillance satellite communications which navigated the drone’s course. This was vehemently denied by Washington. At the time, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources revealed that the those responsible for the feat of bringing the secret American drone down intact were not Iranian but Chinese cyber experts.

‘The Russians were keen on getting a look at the wonders of the American drone, but the Iranians refused to give them access. Eight years later…’ (click to read in full).

NOTE: for news/opinion without left-wing bias see my Not On The 10 o’Clock News.