JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli warplanes last year intercepted Iranian aircraft headed toward Syria, preventing them from delivering troops meant to assist the country’s embattled president at the time, Bashar Assad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
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The remarks in a speech gave a new glimpse into Israel’s thinking in the final days in power for Assad, a longtime enemy who was overthrown by insurgents last December.
Speaking to a conference hosted by the Jewish News Syndicate, a pro-Israel news agency, Netanyahu claimed that arch-rival Iran wanted to save Assad after watching the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in neighboring Lebanon suffer heavy losses in fighting with Israel.
“They had to rescue Assad,” Netanyahu said, claiming that Iran wanted to send “one or two airborne divisions” to help the Syrian leader.
“We stopped that. We sent some F-16s to some Iranian planes that were making some routes to Damascus,” he said. “They turned back.”
He gave no further details.
But they didn’t stop the Russian ones