WarSclerotic

The Israel Aerospace Industries defense contractor performed two tests with one of its short-range ballistic missiles at sea on Tuesday, successfully hitting floating targets at two distances, the firm said.

The Long-Range Artillery Weapon System, known by the acronym LORA, was fired first at a target 90 kilometers (56 miles) away and then at a target 400 kilometers (250 miles) away, IAI said.

“Under both scenarios, the missile was launched to its trajectory, navigated its course to the target, and hit it with utmost precision,” the company said in a statement.

The firm said the trials were conducted at sea for safety reasons and that the launches were done remotely due to coronavirus restrictions. They were fired from aboard a ship, but using a land launcher and with a command and control trailer nearby.

A LORA ballistic missile, produced by the Israel Aerospace Industries defense firm, strikes a target at sea during a test on June 2, 2020. (Israel Aerospace Industries)

“Both the weapon system and the missile successfully met all of the trial’s objectives,” the firm said.

The LORA system completed its first trials in 2017, also at sea, ahead of that year’s Paris Air Show.

A LORA ballistic missile, produced by the Israel Aerospace Industries defense firm, is test-fired at sea on June 2, 2020. (Israel Aerospace Industries)

The missile was developed by IAI’s Systems, Missiles & Space Group, also known by the Hebrew acronym MALAM, which is best known for its air defense systems, including the Arrow 2 and 3 and the Barak 8.

According to the company, the LORA has a range of 400 kilometers and is accurate to within 10 meters.

Both Israel and Azerbaijan are believed to operate the system, though IAI has expressed interest in selling it to other countries.

“The complex trial, performed under COVID-19 limitations, demonstrated the advanced capabilities of both IAI and LORA, our strategic missile system. The trial was executed according to a fully functional design, which tested the system’s maneuvering, strike, and precision, as well as technological developments and enhancements introduced by our engineers,” said Boaz Levy, an IAI vice president and head of the Systems, Missiles & Space Group.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — An airstrike in eastern Syria on Sunday killed five non-Syrian fighters backed by Iran, a Britain-based war monitor said.

The strike targeted three military vehicles belonging to Iran-backed paramilitary fighters near the Iraqi border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The monitor did not say who was behind the attack near the border town of Albu Kamal.

But Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said that “Israel was likely responsible.”

Earlier, Sky News Arabia reported that unidentified aircraft carried out a pre-dawn bombing and also said that the targets were Tehran-linked forces.

The website did not identify who was behind the reported airstrike nor did it provide information on what specifically was hit in the attack.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011, targeting government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from the Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah.

It rarely confirms details of its operations in Syria, but says Iran’s presence in support of President Bashar Assad is a threat and has vowed to continue its strikes.

Iranian-backed militias and their allies command a significant presence in eastern Syria south of the Euphrates Valley.

Earlier this month, air strikes on a base controlled by Iran-backed forces near Albu Kamal killed seven fighters, according to the Observatory.

The monitor said that military reinforcements for Iranian militias and their allies had arrived in the area days before.

Omar Abu Laila, a Europe-based activist from Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zour province, confirmed at the time that a strike hit Iran-backed Iraqi fighters in the area, but had no exact word on casualties.

Israel did not immediately comment on the attack.

Israel, as a rule, does not comment on specific airstrikes, but does generally acknowledge carrying out attack inside Syria against Iranian forces and Iranian proxy militias.

There have been several reports of suspected Israeli strikes inside Syria in the past month, including one on May 4 that left 14 Iranian-backed fighters dead, according to the Observatory.

Unidentified aircraft bombed Iran-backed militias in northern Syria in the predawn hours of Sunday morning, Sky News Arabia reported.

According to the Abu Dhabi-based outlet, the Tehran-linked forces were targeted in the Raqqa area.

The website did not identify who was behind the reported airstrike nor did it provide information on what specifically was hit in the attack.

The alleged airstrike came after a lull in reports of Israeli activities in Syria.

On May 16, seven Iran-backed fighters were killed in airstrikes by unidentified aircraft in the eastern Syrian town of Boukamal near the Iraqi border, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor.

Omar Abu Laila, a Europe-based activist from Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zour province, confirmed at the time that a strike hit Iran-backed Iraqi fighters in the area, but had no exact word on casualties. The strikes came days after reinforcements were brought into the area from Iraq, the Observatory and Abu Laila said.

Abu Laila, who runs Deir Ezzor 24, an activist collective that reports on news in the border area, said Israel was most likely behind the attack, but gave no evidence.

Satellite images purporting to show the damage to a missile factory outside Aleppo, Syria caused by airstrikes attributed to Israel on May 4, which were released on May 7, 2020. (ImageSat International)

Israel, as a rule, does not comment on specific airstrikes, but does generally acknowledge carrying out attack inside Syria against Iranian forces and Iranian proxy militias.

There have been several reports of suspected Israeli strikes inside Syria in the past month, including one on May 4 that left 14 Iranian-backed fighters dead, according to the Observatory.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Wednesday it is ending nearly all of the last vestiges of US sanctions relief provided under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would revoke all but one of sanctions waivers covering civil nuclear cooperation. The waivers had allowed Russian, European and Chinese companies to continue to work on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities without drawing American penalties.

“The Iranian regime has continued its nuclear brinkmanship by expanding proliferation-sensitive activities,” Pompeo said in a statement that pointed out that Iran has admitted to activities that are in violation of the deal.

He accused Iran of “nuclear extortion” and said it “will lead to increased pressure on Iran and further isolate the regime from the international community.”

Pompeo also imposed sanctions on two officials with Iran’s atomic energy organization who are involved in the development and production of centrifuges used to enrich uranium.

The nuclear cooperation waivers were last renewed in late March and were due to expire at the end of the month. The revocations will give foreign companies 60 days to wind down their operations.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks about the coronavirus stimulus package in the James Brady Briefing Room, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Pompeo in March had opposed extending the waivers, which are among the few remaining components of the nuclear deal that the administration has not canceled. But officials said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had prevailed in an internal debate by arguing the coronavirus pandemic made eliminating the waivers unpalatable at a time when the administration is being criticized for refusing to ease sanctions to deal with the outbreak.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and has steadily reimposed US sanctions on Iran that had been eased or lifted under its terms. The “civilian-nuclear cooperation” waivers allow foreign companies to do work at some of Iran’s declared nuclear sites without becoming subject to US sanctions.

Deal supporters say the waivers give international experts a valuable window into Iran’s atomic program that might otherwise not exist. They also say some of the work, particularly at the Tehran reactor on nuclear isotopes that can be used in medicine, is humanitarian in nature.

But Iran critics in Congress have pressed Pompeo to eliminate all the waivers, saying they should be revoked because they give Iran access to technology that could be used for weapons. These critics strenuously objected to the waiver that allowed work at Iran’s once-secret Fordow facility, which is built into a mountain.

Pompeo canceled that waiver in mid-December but the others, which permit work at the Bushehr nuclear power station, the Arak heavy water plant and the Tehran Research Reactor, had been kept in place until now. The waiver for work at Bushehr will be the only one extended. Pompeo said the waiver for work at Bushehr, which predated the Iran deal, would be extended for 90 days.