Israel struck what it said were Iranian targets in Syria on Monday in response to missile fire it blamed on Iran, sparking concerns of an escalation after a report that 11 fighters were killed. Israel announced the strikes against facilities it said belonged to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force as they were occurring, continuing its recent practice of speaking more openly about such raids. It said the strikes were in response to a medium-range, surface-to-surface missile the Quds Force fired from Syria at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, which Israeli air defences intercepted.</s>RAMON AIRPORT - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday Israel would not allow "Iranian aggression" after its military struck what it called Iranian targets in Syria in response to missile fire.

"Yesterday evening, the air force struck a strong blow against Iranian targets in Syria after Iran fired a missile from there toward Israel," Netanyahu said at an inauguration ceremony for a new airport in southern Israel.

"We do not allow such acts of aggression to pass by. We are acting against Iran and against the Syrian forces who are tools of Iranian aggression."

Israel struck what it said were facilities belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force early Monday in response to a missile attack it blamed on Iran.

The surface-to-surface missile fired towards the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday and intercepted by air defences, following an alleged Israeli strike in southern Syria.

The chain of events sparked concerns of an escalation after a monitor reported 11 fighters killed in the overnight Israeli strikes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and advanced arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

It rarely publicly confirms them, though has in recent days spoken about the raids more openly.

Israel has pledged to keep arch-foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria.</s>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday Israel would not allow "Iranian aggression", after its military struck what it called Iranian targets in Syria in response to missile fire.

"Yesterday evening, the air force struck a strong blow against Iranian targets in Syria after Iran fired a missile from there toward Israel," Netanyahu said at an inauguration ceremony for a new airport in southern Israel.

"We do not allow such acts of aggression to pass by. We are acting against Iran and against the Syrian forces who are tools of Iranian aggression."

Israel struck what it said were facilities belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force early Monday in response to a missile attack it blamed on Iran.

The surface-to-surface missile, fired towards the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday and intercepted by air defences, followed an alleged Israeli strike in southern Syria.

The chain of events sparked concerns of an escalation, after a monitor reported 11 fighters killed in the overnight Israeli strikes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and advanced arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

It rarely publicly confirms them, though has in recent days spoken about the raids more openly.

Israel has pledged to keep arch-foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria.</s>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday Israel would not allow "Iranian aggression", after its military struck what it called Iranian targets in Syria in response to missile fire.

"Yesterday evening, the air force struck a strong blow against Iranian targets in Syria after Iran fired a missile from there toward Israel," Netanyahu said at an inauguration ceremony for a new airport in southern Israel.

"We do not allow such acts of aggression to pass by. We are acting against Iran and against the Syrian forces who are tools of Iranian aggression."

Israel struck what it said were facilities belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force early Monday in response to a missile attack it blamed on Iran.

The surface-to-surface missile, fired towards the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday and intercepted by air defences, followed an alleged Israeli strike in southern Syria.

The chain of events sparked concerns of an escalation, after a monitor reported 11 fighters killed in the overnight Israeli strikes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and advanced arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

It rarely publicly confirms them, though has in recent days spoken about the raids more openly.

Israel has pledged to keep arch-foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria.</s>Syrian military air defences have thwarted an Israeli attack, shooting down several missiles in the south of the country, state media says.

"Our air defence systems thwarted ... an Israeli air aggression ... and prevented it from achieving any of its goals," a military source told state news agency SANA.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged an Israeli attack last week on what he called an Iranian arms cache in Syria, where Tehran provides Damascus with vital support.

He told his cabinet Israel had carried out "hundreds" of attacks over the past years of Syria's war to curtail Iran and its ally Lebanon's Hezbollah.</s>BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has revoked the license of an Iranian airline because it has been transporting military equipment and personnel to Syria and other Middle East war zones, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after heavy U.S. pressure on Berlin to act.

An Airbus A340-300 of Iranian airline Mahan Air takes off from Duesseldorf airport DUS, Germany January 16, 2019. Picture taken January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and has been pressing its European allies to follow suit.

The German ban on the airline takes immediate effect, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Monday that the “U.S. Treasury appreciates the important decision by Germany to deny Mahan Air’s landing rights. Mahan routinely flies IRGC-QF and weapons to Syria, is subject to our terrorism secondary sanctions, and should be denied access around the world.”

Contacted by Reuters, Mahan Air in Tehran said it could not comment immediately on the ban.

The measure does not signal plans for the reimposition of broader sanctions against Iran, a German government source told Reuters.

Mahan Air, established in 1992 as Iran’s first private airline, has the country’s largest fleet of aircraft and has flights to a number of European countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Greece.

The U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, who has long objected to Mahan Air’s links to Germany, welcomed the ban.

“Mahan Air has flown terrorists, weapons, equipment, and funds to international locations to support Iranian terrorist proxy groups,” he said in a statement.

“Iran’s use of Mahan Air to support the Assad regime in Syria, for example, has contributed to incredible human suffering, violence, and political instability felt across the world,” he said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“SECURITY NEEDS”

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert denied that the decision to ban Mahan air was the result of U.S. pressure.

“The German decision is based on considerations of our security needs,” he told a regular news conference.

“It cannot be ruled out that this airline could also transport cargo to Germany that threatens our security. This is based on knowledge of past terrorist activities by Iran in Europe,” he added.

European countries have been under sustained U.S. pressure to reimpose sanctions on Iran since President Donald Trump last year pulled Washington out of an international nuclear non-proliferation treaty reached with Tehran under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Along with Iran, the other signatories to the deal - Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China - are still trying to keep it alive.

The European countries, with more extensive economic ties to Iran and mindful of the threat that would be posed by another nuclear state in their immediate neighborhood, have sought to shield themselves from the impact of Washington’s extra-territorial sanctions, with limited success.</s>BERLIN (AP) — The German government is banning Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the Iranian airline’s involvement in Syria.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Monday the decision was taken to safeguard Germany’s “foreign and security policy interests.”

Burger told reporters in Berlin that the airline has ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and provides military transport flights to Syria. Iran has supported Syria’s President Bashar Assad

The airline has several weekly flights between Tehran and German cities.

The Mahan Air is on a U.S. sanctions list and Washington has long urged allies to ban the airline from their territory.</s>BERLIN — The German government is banning Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the Iranian airline's involvement in Syria.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Monday the decision was taken to safeguard Germany's "foreign and security policy interests."

Burger told reporters in Berlin that the airline has ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and provides military transport flights to Syria. Iran has supported Syria's President Bashar Assad</s>Germany has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's involvement in Syria, officials said Monday.

Mahan Air is on a U.S. sanctions list and Washington has long urged allies to ban the airline from their territory.

The decision to ban it came after consultations with European allies and the U.S., Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.

"It cannot be ruled out that this airline carries out transports to Germany that affect our security concerns," he said.

"This is especially true against the backdrop of terrorist activities, intelligence on terrorist activities from the Iranian side and Iranian entities in Europe in the past."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the German decision.

"The airline transports weapons and fighters across the Middle East, supporting the Iranian regime's destructive ambitions around the region," he said in a tweet. "We encourage all our allies to follow suit."

The airline had several weekly flights between Tehran and German cities.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said the decision was taken to safeguard Germany's "foreign and security policy interests," citing increasing evidence of Iranian intelligence activity in Europe.

In addition, he said the airline has ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and provides military transport flights to Syria. Iran has supported Syria's President Bashar Assad.

The move comes at a time of particularly sensitive relations with Iran. Germany plays a large role in trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally pull out last year.

It was the latest of several issues, however, that have caused friction.

Among other things, German prosecutors said last week they had detained a 50-year-old German-Afghan dual citizen who had worked as a translator for the army on suspicion he had been spying for Iran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations on the weekend, saying that "enemies" were aiming to "sour relations" between Iran and Europe.

And last year, Germany's central bank changed its conditions allowing it to block transfers unless it receives assurances a transaction doesn't violate financial sanctions or money-laundering rules - prompting Iran to rescind a request to repatriate 300 million euros ($341 million) from a Hamburg-based bank.</s>Germany has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's involvement in Syria.

Mahan Air is on a United States sanctions list and Washington has long urged allies to ban the airline from their territory.

The decision to ban the airline came after consultations with European allies and the US, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.

"It cannot be ruled out that this airline carries out transports to Germany that affect our security concerns," said Seibert.

"This is especially true against the backdrop of terrorist activities, intelligence on terrorist activities from the Iranian side and Iranian entities in Europe in the past."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the German decision.

"The airline transports weapons and fighters across the Middle East, supporting the Iranian regime's destructive ambitions around the region," he said in a tweet. "We encourage all our allies to follow suit."

Mahan, Iran's second-largest carrier after Iran Air, flies four services a week between Tehran and the German cities of Duesseldorf and Munich.

The move comes at a time of sensitive relations with Iran. Germany plays a large role in trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran after US President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally pull out of it last year.

German firms have come under intense pressure from the US to halt their business with Iran. As a result, rail operator Deutsche Bahn, telecom company Deutsche Telekom, Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and industrial group Siemens have said they will stop their operations in the country.

The European Union earlier this month targeted sanctions at Iran's security services and two of its leaders, accused of involvement in a series of murders and planned attacks against Tehran critics in the Netherlands, Denmark and France.

The mounting pressure over Iran is increasing following President Trump's decision last year to pull Washington out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty it had reached with Tehran under his predecessor Barack Obama.
Germany revokes the license of Iranian airline Mahan Air, citing the airline's involvement in Syria and other security concerns.