The Jerusalem Post

Iran will boost Syria’s air defenses, Iranian media said on Wednesday. This surprise announcement was made by Major General Mohammad Baqeri after an agreement with Syrian air defense minister Ali Abdullah Ayoub. The agreement will expand Syria’s air defense systems and could see Iran sending its 3rd Khordad or other air defense systems to Syria, which could pose a threat to Israel. Iran says a 3rd Khordad shot down the sophisticated large Global Hawk US drone in June 2019. Just as likely, the agreement could be a political boost for Damascus, with no real military ramifications in the near future.

Iran’s new air defense help could also have ramifications for Turkey’s military presence. Iran, Turkey and Russia frequently work on issues relating to Syria. They all oppose the US presence in Syria and Turkey and Iran have worked together against Kurdish dissident and militant groups. This means Iran’s message in boosting Syria’s air defense is directed at Israel, the US and possibly Turkey.

The 3rd Khordad system, which is based on the Russian S-300, has made its appearance in Syria before. In April 2018, according to a report at Ynet, it was flown into the T-4 base and was destroyed “before even being unpacked. Apparently IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was so angered by the destruction of the precious system that he ordered the firing of a salvo of rockets at Israel. What the 2018 report also reveals is that the Khordad was brought to T-4 because of an earlier round of incidents in which Iran flew a drone from T-4 into Israeli airspace in February and Israel shot down the drone. Ynet notes in its May 15, 2018 article that subsequent strikes on T-4 led Iran to bring the air defense and then the air defense was also destroyed.

Click here to read the full article.