Faced with regular Israeli strikes, Iran seeks to upgrade Syrian regime's air defence system

Iran has announced that it will look to strengthen the Syrian regime's air defence systems amid Israeli strikess on both Assad regime forces and Iranian-backed militias, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-run Fars News Agency has reported.

Iranian Brigadier General Hamza Qalandari said that that the while “the Syrian government” already has strong “missile defence and air defence capabilities”, Iran sees that the “volume of threats against this country is now much wider than in the past”. 

Iran therefore seeks “to strengthen the air defences of our Syrian brothers in various ways,” he added.

Israel has been able to attack regime and Iranian targets in Syria with ease, which has prompted Tehran to install its own advanced, long-range air-defence missile systems in the war-torn country.

On Saturday, Israeli air strikes hit a munitions depot run by the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.  Most Israeli air assaults in Syria have targeted Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed Shia militias, with Israel determined not to let the Iranian regime gain a long-term foothold near its border. 

If Iran deploys its most advanced Khordad 15 air defence weaponry in Syria, which includes the 120 mile-range Sayyad-3 missiles, Israel’s air campaigns against Assad and Iran's allies could potentially be mitigated. 

Iran has sought to increase its regional influence in the region in general, but due to its intervention in the Syrian civil war on behalf of the regime, Tehran now has a strong ground presence in all areas of Syria formally controlled by Assad.