Russia has delivered an S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria, it said on Tuesday, in defiance of Israeli and US concerns that the arms sale would embolden Iran and escalate the Syrian war.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin during a meeting broadcast by Rossiya 24 TV: "The work was finished a day ago," adding that the system would improve the security of Russian military personal in Syria.
Russia decided to supply the system after Moscow accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet near Syria in September.
Israel voiced regret at the deaths of 15 Russian air crew while saying Syrian incompetence was at fault and that it was compelled to continue taking action against suspected deployments of Iranian-backed forces across its northern border.
"We have not changed our strategic line on Iran," Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said on Tuesday.
"We will not allow Iran to open up a third front against us. We will take actions as required," he told Israel Radio.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert could not confirm reports that the S-300 had been delivered.
"I cannot confirm that that is accurate. I hope that they did not," she told a press briefing. "That would be, I think, sort of a serious escalation in concerns and issues going on in Syria, but I just can't confirm it."
First S-300 System GOES LIVE in Syria
First S-300 System GOES LIVE in Syria
The Russian Ministry of Defense sent new anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, a week after Syrian forces accidentally shot down a Russian aircraft Il-20 during an Israeli air strike, on September 17.
Russia has blamed the incident on Israel and said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used the Russian Il-20 as a shield. The Israeli side has refuted these statements, saying that they had notified the Russian side in due time.
Moscow has publicly said it would send four battalions of S-300 to Syria within two weeks, but at least SIX such systems have already arrived via air (wheeled transport vehicles) and several others are already en-route via ship (tracked vehicles) according to my Intel sources.
The S-300 air defense missile system can cover facilities on the Syrian coast and monitor the Syrian border with Israel as well as with Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
The source explained that the number of battalions of the S-300 is now expected to rise to 8 or more, depending on developments and conditions as needed.
“Technically, everything is possible. But this is not the case. The main issue lies in that supplying Syria with S300 missiles might bring Russian and Israel on the brink of a direct military confrontation”, he commented.
“There is a clear understanding in Israel that S300 missiles will completely close the Israeli airspace”, said Uzi Rubin; founder of the Israeli agency for developing the missile defense system and a co-founder of HETZ anti-missile system. The truth, however, is that while the S-300 can monitor all of Israeli airspace, its effective interception area is only about 150km from launch point, meaning it cannot destroy aircraft in ALL of Israeli air space.
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