As the world is abuzz with speculation over Israel’s shadowy “rocket propulsion system” test, Tehran bluntly claimed that the projectile it fired from a base south of Tel Aviv was actually a nuclear-capable missile aimed at Iran.
“Israel today tested a nuke-missile, aimed at Iran,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested in a tweet posted on Friday evening. He lamented that the West never complains “about the only nuclear arsenal in West Asia,” but “has fits of apoplexy over our conventional defensive [rockets].”
The mysterious missile in question was launched earlier in the day, with Israel’s military remaining conspicuously tight-lipped about it.
“The defense establishment conducted a test of a rocket propulsion system, from a base in central Israel,” read a carefully worded tweet that caused much speculation among informed pundits and the media.
Ministry of Defense✔@Israel_MOD
A few minutes ago, the defense establishment conducted a test of a rocket propulsion system, from a base in central Israel. The test was pre-determined and took place according to plan.1011:08 AM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee Ministry of Defense’s other Tweets
Further muddying the water, the Defense Ministry didn’t even disclose the location of the “pre-determined” test, but videos and photos that popped up on social media showed a single, long trail of smoke rising from the Palmachim airbase situated south of Tel Aviv.
The military installation is believed to have a launch pad for Israel’s secretive Jericho ballistic missiles, which have a range of up to 2,000km. Developed with American assistance, the little-known weapon can be equipped with a sizeable warhead, according to some media reports.
ELINT News@ELINTNewsReplying to @ELINTNews
#UPDATE: @haaretzcom editor @avischarf reports the missile was launched from Palmachim Air Base, which is located along the Mediterranean Coast just south of Tel Aviv in central Israel.
The airbase is labelled as having a launch pad for tests. This is likely the launch point.
1111:35 AM – Dec 6, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacySee ELINT News’s other Tweets
As the plot thickened, Avi Scharf, the editor of the English version of Haaretz newspaper, reported that the Air Force dispatched a telemetry plane, a Hercules cargo aircraft and at least two specially configured Gulfstream G550 aerial surveillance jets “to track and handle it all.” The planes “flew all the way out past Crete,” he wrote.
Global News 
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