World War Three

In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, Putin and Rouhani agreed that the Western strikes had damaged the chances of achieving a political resolution in the seven-year Syria conflict, according to a Kremlin statement. -Reuters

The US-led strike was denounced by Putin as an "act of aggression," and a "war crime" by Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

“Vladimir Putin, in particular, stressed that if such actions committed in violation of the U.N. Charter continue, then it will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations,” the Kremlin statement said.

US President Donald Trump wanted to include Russian and Iranian forces deployed in Syria into the list of targets of the April 14 US-led strike on the country, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources familiar with the decision making process.

According to the report, the Pentagon provided Trump with three main options:

1. A powerful missile attack aimed at the alleged chemical weapons facilities of the Syrian government.
2. Strikes on “a broader set of Syrian regime targets, including suspected chemical-weapons research facilities and military command centers.”
3. “The most expansive proposal, which might have included strikes on Russian air defenses in Syria, was designed to cripple the regime’s military capabilities without touching Mr. Assad’s political machinery.”

President Trump and his team was considering to adopt the 3rd Scenario but Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pushed back, according to the newspaper’s sources. So, the “hybrid plan” of actions was approvided and then implemented on April 14.

Tuesday, 17 April -- Israeli Defense Force (IDF) sources said to confirm Iran has established air forces in Syria and are planning retaliatory attacks in Israel.

ISRAEL INFORMING IRAN THROUGH BACKCHANNELS THEY FACE OVERWHELMING CRUSHING RESPONSE IF THEY ACT.

IDF are briefing journalists now that they are aware of major strikes being planned by Iran, targeting cities in Israel.

There were indeed 3 strikes the other night that were attempted to be covered up, including that ammunition depot.

So it seems we have had 2 consecutive nights of Israeli strikes (yes ALL were Israel)

I am now in a position to confirm.

You know what this means: if the IDF thinks Iranian strikes are imminent they are not going to sit and wait on explosions in their cities.

They will pre-empt and pre-empt heavily!

They have done it in the past...

• 6 day war, Israel preempted the Egyptian air force...
• 7th June Operation Opera/Babylon Israel preempted Iraqi nuclear facility...
• 6th September 2007, Operation Orchard Israel bombs Syrian nuclear facility...
• The strikes on Hezbollah and Iranian positions are for the same reason, Iranian arms sophisticated hardware passing through Syria to Hezbollah to be stored in Lebanon.

If in a corner or they feel under threat credible threat, they will strike.

The information now released, much of it available to DEBKA’s readers in the past, attests to the growing conviction among Israel’s strategic leaders that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) are on the point of a military operation to punish Israel for its April 9 air attack on the SyrianT-4 airbase, which left eight IRGC aerospace officers dead, including Col. Mehdi Dehgan Yazdeli. The IDF is finally leveling on the threat so as to prepare the Israeli public for what looks like an inevitable military clash with Iran.
A leak to the New York Times and Israeli media on Monday incorrectly defined the T-4 strike as Israel’s first live attack on Iranian commanders. In fact, the Israeli air force struck a group of Iranian commanders on a secret visit to Quneitra opposite Israel’s Golan border on Jan. 18, 2015, killing two Iranian generals, Mohammad Ali Allah Dadi and Abu Ali al-Tabtabani. And in the following year, on July 26, an Israeli rocket attack aimed at and missed another secret visitor to Quneitra, Iranian Gen. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi.

For now, DEBKAfile can report:

• Al Qods chief Gen. Qassem Soleimani is leading the preparations for the first direct Iranian assault on Israel, not just by proxy. Soleimani is the overall commander of Iran’s Middle East warfronts.
• Iranian air force units in Syria are gearing up for the attack.
• Military Il-76 freight planes, disguised as Iranian Simorgh Air and Pouya Air commercial flights, are ferrying military equipment into Syria.
• The IRGC air fleet is spread out in four Syrian bases outside Aleppo, Saiqal, Damascus and T-4 near Homs.