Iran Activates Air Defense System in Syria

File photo of Iranian missiles in Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
File photo of Iranian missiles in Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
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Iran Activates Air Defense System in Syria

File photo of Iranian missiles in Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
File photo of Iranian missiles in Syria. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

The Iranian militias have given the green light to activate the air defense system composed of four batteries in Damascus to intercept any upcoming Israeli strikes, reliable sources in Syria said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed that the militias’ leaders were ordered to limit their movement in Syrian territories, fearing Israeli strikes.

The Iranian militias exploited the destructive earthquake that hit parts of Syria and the access to humanitarian aid in order to deliver the air defense system to the regime.

The cost of the Iranian system is less than that of the Russian S-300 missile system.

SOHR added that the Iranian system had passed through the al-Boukamal crossing on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

More Iranian missiles are expected and would be placed at the security and military sites in Aleppo, Latakia and Deir Ezzor.

Israel targeted several Iranian sites in Syria, where the Iranian militias have been deployed in recent years, to prevent Iran from expanding and to ban the smuggling of weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Some of the sites are close to Damascus and its civil airport.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.