BICOM

Syria’s President Assad claimed this morning that his forces have already received the first shipment of Russian advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.

The S-300 system is capable of intercepting aircraft at a range of over sixty miles and could challenge Israel’s air superiority in the region. Assad’s claim comes after Russia announced on Tuesday that its sale of the sophisticated system to the Syrian government would go ahead. Speaking to the Hezbollah television station Al-Manar this morning, Assad said that the first S-300 had been received and that the next shipment will arrive in Syria “soon.”

Earlier this week, Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned that if the S-300 deliveries to Syria do take place, “we will know what to do.” During a visit to Russia earlier this month, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to cancel the sale, as it could prompt an Israeli response and could plunge the region into war. The Guardian this morning claims that two Israeli diplomats have flown to Moscow to persuade Russia not to complete the deal.

In a further statement which will alarm Israel, Assad also told Al-Manar that he will not stand in the way of Syrian groups “that will want to fight for the liberation of the Golan,” which borders Israel. Gunfire and mortar rounds have landed on Israeli territory on several occasions over the last few months and just last week, the Syrian government took responsibility for opening fire on Israeli troops on the Golan border.

In a separate development, the military chief of the opposition Free Syrian Army told the BBC yesterday that there had been an “invasion” of more than seven thousand Hezbollah fighters leading Assad’s military offensive in the opposition-held town of Qusair. Yesterday, the US State Department called Hezbollah’s presence “unacceptable” and demanded they leave Syria.