Iran denies supplying Fajr-5 rockets to Gaza militants: report

[A.Rafay]

DUBAI (Reuters) - A senior Iranian lawmaker denied his country had supplied Palestinian Islamist militants in Gaza with missiles capable of hitting Israel's commercial center, Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam television reported.

Israel began air strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, with the declared goal of deterring Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.



Hamas' armed wing said on Saturday it had launched an Iranian-made Fajr-5 rocket at Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial center, about 70 km (43 miles) north of Gaza, in the third rocket attack on the city since Wednesday.

Israeli police said Saturday's rocket was intercepted mid-air by an Israeli anti-missile battery and caused no casualties or damage.

Israel's enemy Iran, which supports and arms Hamas, has condemned the offensive begun by the Israel Defiance Forces as "organized terrorism".

But Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said Israeli claims that Iran was supplying rockets were unfounded, according to a report posted on Al Alam's website on Saturday evening.

The militants were self-sufficient and in no need of weapons from outside their territory, he added, according to Al Alam.

With its 75 km (46 mile) range and a 175 kg (385 pound) warhead - powerful enough to shear through a concrete apartment block - the Fajr is a prestige weapon for Hamas, which is massively outgunned by Israel's technologically superior military.

By putting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in reach of the Palestinians, the Fajrs are also potential strategic game-changers that could draw even fiercer Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The Israelis say they have destroyed around 20 of the rockets on the ground and only a few remain in the Gaza arsenals.

(Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati and Mirna Sleiman in Dubai and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Iran denies supplying Fajr-5 rockets to Gaza militants: report - Chicago Tribune

 

[Vassnti]

Iran supplies improved rockets to Syria and Hizbullah, TACTICAL SURFACE-TO-SURFACE


Iran has supplied improved versions of the long-range Zelzal and Fajr rockets to Syria and Lebanon's Hizbullah, writes David C Isby. On 17 August 2004, the Kuwaiti daily Al Siyassa reported that two Iranian cargo aircraft landed in Damascus on 4 August 2004 with 220 rockets intended for Hizbullah. In the past, Damascus Airport and the Al-Ladhiqiyah seaport have been the major ports of arrival for Hizbullah weapon shipments.


The newspaper quoted Syrian opposition sources in London as saying the weapons had a range of 250-350km, suggesting they were improved Zelzal rockets. Other reports say that the weapons delivered included Fajr 5s, with 75km range and a 90kg warhead.

Iran supplies improved rockets to Syria and Hizbullah - Jane's Missiles and Rockets

Iran supplied Syria with them and supplied Hizbullah with them, Hamas says the rockets they are firing are from Iran yet Iran says Hamas can build them yea right.
Israel isnt going after an arms factory in Sudan while Hamas merilly builds long range rockets next door.