More Evidence Of Sanction Busting Iranian Munitions Deliveries To Syria

Last week I posted rare evidence of Iranian arms that had been shipped to Syria in the last 18 months, in violation of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran.  Thanks to an eagle-eyed reader of my blog, pfc-joker, there's now more evidence of Iranian sanction busting (video)

This video was filmed at a position captured from the Syrian military in the last few days, and at 80 seconds into the video we have a very clear shot of the markings on an munitions crate

This case contained/contains two 120mm mortar bombs, manufactured in 2012, and with AZ111A2 fuzes.  AZ111A2 fuzes are produced by the Iranian Defense Industries Organisation, described on their website as

one of the main affiliated subsidiaries of Ministry of Defense and Support of Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a completely state-owned organization is presenting its d uties and relative missions in the field of production and supply for the meeting of requirements of the Armed Forces of I.R. of Iran and also export of products, engineering and technical services.

AZ111A2 fuzes can be found here on their website, along with a full spec sheet, confirming they are produce for a variety of HE mortar bombs, including the 120mm size.

It's interesting to note that a 2009 shipment of sanction busting arms from Iran intercepted by Israel carried mortar rounds with the AZ111A2 (as well as the 107mm rockets), and the markings on the case are virtually the same format as seen in the above video

One thing this demonstrates how much crucial information can be gathered from the sides of wooden boxes, and why it pays to look out for all the little details in videos from Syria.

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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Are Yugoslavian Anti-Tank Weapons Being Smuggled Into Syria?

In the past few weeks a number of videos have been appearing from the Horan region of Syria showing a new type of rocket launcher, one that I believe had not been seen in use by the Syrian opposition until recent weeks

The weapon featured in the above videos is the M79 Osa anti-tank weapon, originally manufactured in Yugoslavia, and now manufactured in Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, and in Croatia as the RL90 M95.  Apart from a controversial report claiming they had been sold to the Syria government it appears the Syrian military does not use M79 Osas, and having watched pretty much every video of captured equipment that's come out of Syria I've never seen them being looted from the Syrian military by the opposition.  So this leaves the question of how the Syrian opposition are getting their hands on them.  Two videos from Syrian State TV may provide some clues.  First of all this video showing a haul of captured equipment, which gets very excited about the presence of Made In Israel bandages and "Israeli" M72 LAW anti tank weapons, but also features something else relevant to M79 Osas

Here we get a clear view of the markings, stating it's a M79 90mm round, and a good shot of the rocket container

The M79 rockets come in containers that attach to the rear of the rocket launcher, images of which can be seen here.  We also have a second video from State TV showing what's claimed to be a large haul of seized weapons, which includes well over 100 M79 rocket containers

Now State TV has a less than stellar track record when it comes to accurately reporting events, but what's interesting about the above video is State TV claims it was filmed in Daraa, in the Horan region, where the vast majority of the M79 Osa videos have been coming from.

Does this prove these are being smuggled into Syria?  It's hard to be certain, with the status of the report on their sale to Syria being up in the air, and State TVs past issues with reporting events in a truthful manner, but it's something worth keeping an eye on in he future.


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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com