Report: Iran steps up air defense deployment in Syria in bid to curb Israeli strikes

The Times of Israel reports: “Iran has invested millions of dollars in an effort to ramp up the deployment of an advanced air defense network in Syria, amid repeated attempts by Israel to target Iranian sites and shipments of weapons to its regional proxies, according to a Tuesday report.

Citing an unnamed intelligence source from a nation allied with the United States, Newsweek reported that Iran over the past two years has been ‘promoting the deployment of aerial defense capabilities on its behalf in Syria at a cost of tens of millions of dollars in order to deal with the Israeli airstrikes.’

The source said the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force, Brig. Gen. Fereydoun Mohammadi Saghaei, is leading the air defense project.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses specific operations. It says it targets bases of Iran and allied militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria, as well as arms shipments believed to be bound for various proxies, chief among them Hezbollah.

Additionally, airstrikes attributed to Israel have repeatedly targeted Syrian air defense systems…”

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