Syria’s foreign minister on Sunday blamed Israel for a series of covert attacks that have taken place over the past year on oil tankers in the region that were traveling from Iran to Syria.
“There should be deterrence to Israeli attacks on ships. The Israeli governments and arrogant Israeli leaders must understand that these attacks cannot continue with Israel not paying a price,” said Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV.
In March, a report from The Wall Street Journal said that since 2019, Israel had attacked at least a dozen ships that were bound for Syria, most of which were Iranian or carrying Iranian fuel. Since both Iran and Syria are under heavy US sanctions, the two countries are natural trading partners. The US is also occupying areas of northeast Syria, where most of the country’s oil resources are, making Damascus more reliant on Tehran.
On top of the attacks on cargo bound for Syria, Israel is also constantly bombing the country. The US and Israeli pressure on Damascus is strangling the Syrian economy and preventing the country from rebuilding after 10 years of war. According to the UN, the number of Syrians that are close to starvation is at 12.4 million, or 60 percent of the population.
Russia is now escorting Irans oil tankers in the Med but it wont stop Israel trying.
I hope they shoot the ships or aircraft that try.
So you hope the Russians and Syrians and whoever is on those ships drown. OK. War is not a game, it is not fair, it is about killing. If you don’t want to do that, which is fine, don’t fight war or build up forces that are obviously going to fight a war.
I have not read that. Are you sure it is true?
See if you say you are at total war with someone, and then the putative enemy hits your strategic assets, you should not be shocked. Iran should hire some cyber guys from Russia to protect its cyber infrastructure at home, which the Israelis(some of whom are Russian math whizzes) hack at will.
Personally I thought that the Colonial Gas hack would have triggered the NSA or NSC to hire the Russians who did the hack as consultants, and fire the math challenged Americans at the Pentagon and in our industries who went to Rah Rah U’s, take “days off”, play soccer with the “kids” and think cybersecurity is just a “job”. The Israelis, Chinese, Russians understand war.
There are no “rules”, everything is fair, your goal is to cripple your enemy and you don’t worry about “world opinion”. US wasn’t “beacon of freedom” when it took over the reserve currency status after WW2 and controlled the IMF, etc. It isn’t any beacon now.
Plus the US has poorly educated overpaid military and contractor BS artists trying to cope with far more qualified tech people in Russia, China and Israel. Did I mention Korea?Yeah, do your f ing homework kid, five hrs a day, seven days a week . School is not “fun”, and war is not “fair”:.
They are not “at total war.” They are at total hype and bluster.
Let us see now, Israel attacks Syrian oil tankers at sea, we have troops parked on top of a Syrian oil field. Israel illegally controls the Golan Heights. Golan Heights has…………..oil. Same for West Bank, Gaza.
Yemen has a estimated 3 billion barrels of the goo under ground. SAE plans to put a port there, we sell (give) SAE weapons to pound Yemen.
Iran has………………wait for it…………OIL!
Follow the money (oil)………………….
I guess no one really believe fossil fuels won’t be a major fuel after 2040 or whatever date the UN climate folks and the “ezperts” on climate claim the apocalypse caused by global warming will be irreversible. I noted recently that oil stocks are doing relatively well after the pandemic effect fades. Someone thinks investing billions into exploration and maintenance of oil fields makes sense even as Joe Biden drives an electric F150 about. A very pricey F150. Joe can afford it. Most working people can’t. You know, the kind Joe allegedly grew up with in…. Scranton
After government subsidies, the electric F150 costs a couple thousand dollars less than the internal combustion version.
That doesn’t mean it will take off, but if it doesn’t, the reason won’t be the price versus similar non-electric trucks.
Depending on subsidies implemented years ahead is foolish.
Without necessarily defending Israel, the fact is that Syria, even before the Assad family took it over fifty or more yrs ago, has proudly proclaimed that it is at war with Israel, will never recognize it, and won’t end belligerancy until the Israelis pull out of the Golan, (to which the Syrians rightly object to Israel’s annexation of that area, albeit Syria used the Heights as a convenient elevation from which to launch attacks against Israel.}
Syria also has opened its territory to very well armed Iranian controlled forces who to give them credit make no secret that they too are at war with Israel, or what ever phrase Iran uses these days to describe the Jewish controlled areas of Palestine.
Fight to win, by all means, if that it your core belief, but don’t whine when the people you are trying to hurt really badly fight back and take your assets. God, can anyone fight a war without whining?
Better still, Don’t fight wars.
Disgusting nation states abound. Thankfully, war is not used in the vast majority of cases to either eliminate them or correct their behavior.
As long as Syria is letting itself used by Iran, it is going to be an easy target for Israel’s war against Iran. And the Iranians are not too likely to take kindly to a Syrian request to pull their forces out even when the reprehensible Islamists Assad usefully kills fade into cracks with the cockroaches.