Russian sale of S-300s to Assad regime is serious escalation

The US State Department said Tuesday (Oct 3) that it could not confirm Russia had delivered the S-300 air defense systems to Assad regime, but that it would be a “concern” if it had.

“I hope that they did not,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters in Washington when asked about the Russian Defense Ministry announcement claiming the delivery of the S-300 to the Assad regime had been completed.

Both Israel and the United States have protested the decision to supply Assad regime with the S-300, which could complicate ongoing Israeli efforts to prevent Iran deepening its military presence in Syria and to thwart the transfer of weapons in Syria to Hezbollah.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against Assad regime and Iranian targets in Syria over the last several years, with fighter jets going nearly unchallenged by the country’s air defenses — though an F-16 was downed by an Assad anti-aircraft missile in February in what the IDF later said was the result of a professional error by the pilots.

Based on the Times of Israel