Israeli airstrike on the horizon? New Damascus air defenses activated

The timing of the report that Syria and Iran have stepped up air defense near Damascus comes just days after an IRGC commander was killed in Syria, in a bombing that was widely attributed to Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

The Syrian military and Iranian militia groups in the country have rolled out new, advanced air defense systems near Damascus, aimed at stopping Israeli air strikes in the area.

According to a report from the Jerusalem Post, which cited the Syrian Capital Voice outlet, Damascus and Tehran have obtained more sophisticated air defense systems from Korean and Chinese manufacturers.

Iran is believed to have paid for the air defense systems as part of a partnership with Syria, whose embattled leader, Bashar al-Assad, has given his tacit approval to Iranian assets operating throughout his country.

Those Iranian agents are often the target of Israeli air strikes. Although Jerusalem has never formally confirmed or denied responsibility for bombings of Iranian bases in Syria, Israel is believed to have successfully carried out hundreds of air strikes in the country in recent years.

The Capital Voice report indicated that the new air defense systems are significantly more effective than the systems previously used in Syrian air space, and have repelled Israeli aircraft at least twice since October 2022.

Since August 2022, Syria has also used the Bavar-373 air defense systems, which were provided to the war-torn country by Iran via Russia.

Notably, the Bavar-373 system was recently moved to Syria’s southern border region with Israel, some 30 kilometers north of the Golan Heights.

The timing of the report that Syria and Iran have stepped up air defense near Damascus comes just days after an IRGC commander was killed in Syria, in a bombing that was widely attributed to Israel.

Israel and Iran have been engaged in a proxy war for several years, with Israel targeting Iranian assets in Syria and elsewhere in the region, along with suspected sabotage of nuclear sites in Iran.

A recent UAV attack on an Israeli-owned oil tanker traveling through the Gulf of Oman is believed to have been executed by Iran.