An Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet flies during an aerial show at a graduation ceremony for soldiers who have completed the IAF Flight Course, at the Hatzerim Air Base in the Negev desert, Dec. 29, 2016. (Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel attacked Iranian targets at a military base in Iraq, a Saudi newspaper reported.
The London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat cited unnamed western diplomatic sources as saying that Israel used F-35 stealth fighter jets on late Sunday night to attack “Iranian advisers” and a shipment of ballistic missile launchers from Iran at the Ashraf base located northeast of Baghdad.
A second attack took place on July 19, according to the report.
The base was formerly used by the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, a militia that fought against the Iranian regime. It is located about 50 miles from the border with Iran.
The Israeli military has neither confirmed nor denied the attacks.
The alleged attacks come after Israel has been more openly striking Iranian targets in neighboring Syria.
Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said on Sunday morning in an interview with the Kan national broadcaster that “Israel is the only country in the world that has been killing Iranians for two years now.”
He said that Israel “strikes the Iranians hundreds of times in Syria, sometimes admits it and sometimes foreign reports reveal it.” He added that it is “all coordinated policy.”
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