Itongadol/AJN.- Semi-official news agency Fars, close to Iran\’s Revolutionary Guard, denies rockets captured by the IDF were Iran-made.
Iran\’s military denied Wednesday Israel\’s claim that it captured shipment of dozens of advanced rockets originating in Iran and heading for Gaza.
An Iranian military official denied the claim to Al Mayadeen, a television channel associated with Hezbollah, while Iran\’s semi-official Fars news agency, close to the country\’s elite Revolutionary Guard force, also denied the claims, calling it "mere lies."
Israeli Navy commandos seized the ship carrying advanced rockets on Tuesday night. Elite troops from the Israel Navy\’s Shayetet 13 unit boarded the ship in open waters on the maritime border of Sudan and Eritrea, some 1,500 km south of Israel.
"Iran is the number one terror exporter in the world – in this case the destination is the Gaza Strip, on other cases it\’s Hezbollah, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria etc.," Defense Minister Moshe Ya\’alon said Wednesday in a press briefing on the raid.
"Iran smiles to the world to try to reach accords with the West. I hope that Western leaders learn a lesson from this operation," Ya\’alon added.
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said it was no news Iran was supplying weapons to its allies.
"The operation went through boldly yet intelligently and we managed not only thwart the transfer of arms, but to also expose Iran\’s terrorist activity inside-out. The magnitude of arms and ammunition yet to be revealed will expose the serious impact it would have had on Israel," Gantz noted.