Third Iron Dome stationed in North amid tensions

Army Radio: IDF not taking any chances following reported air strike last week in Syria.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Two IDF Iron Dome batteries 370 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Two IDF Iron Dome batteries 370
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
The IDF stationed a third Iron Dome air defense battery in northern Israel on Tuesday, amid escalated tensions following last week’s reported air strikes in Syria.
An army spokeswoman said that the anti-rocket systems were “continuously in the process of being moved,” and did not draw a link to the deployment with any current events.
Army Radio said the movement of the third battery means that the largest number of Iron Dome systems have been deployed in northern Israel to date.
The Army Radio report said that the deployment “does not signal pinpoint information on an expected missile attack on Israel, but in light of the reports of an Israeli attack in Syria [last week], and the threats being heard in Lebanon and Iran, the IDF is not taking any chances.”
Days before the air strike, the IDF deployed two Iron Dome batteries to the North, including one moved to the greater Haifa area, amid reports that the army was allowing the possibility of the transfer of chemical weapons from Syria to radical sides.
After Wednesday’s reported air strike, Western intelligence sources said a convoy of advanced anti-aircraft weapons was hit on the outskirts of Damascus.
Syrian state television said a “scientific research center” had been hit.
While Syria and Hezbollah have not made any threats to respond to the air strike, senior Iranian officials have released a series of threats.
Saeed Jalili, head of Iran’s National Security Council, visited Syria in recent days and said that Israel “will regret” the air strike.
On Saturday, the deputy chairman of the Iranian Armed Forces, Brig.-Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, said, “Syria’s response... will send this regime into a coma,” said according to Press TV, an official Iranian regime media outlet.