Iranian state television said today, Friday, that Iran is likely to sell surface-to-air missiles to Syria, to help it strengthen air defenses in the face of repeated Israeli air strikes.
"Syria needs to rebuild its air defense network, and requests precision bombs for its combat aircraft," the state broadcaster said.
"It is very likely that we will witness supplies from Iran with radars and defensive missiles, such as the "15 Khordad" system, to strengthen the Syrian air defences," the television added, noting that only parts of a defense agreement signed recently with Syria are being announced.
Israeli officials rarely admit responsibility for specific operations, but Israel has conducted airstrikes against suspected Iranian-sponsored arms transfers and personnel deployments in Syria for nearly a decade.
In the past months, Israel has intensified its strikes on Syrian airports and air bases, with the aim of disrupting Iran's increasing use of air supply lines to deliver weapons to its allies in Syria and Lebanon, including the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Israeli military experts say the strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict aimed at slowing Iran's entrenchment in Syria.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the recent attacks, which it said targeted "residential buildings in Damascus and led to the killing and maiming of innocent Syrian citizens."
The ministry criticized what it described as Western silence over the Israeli violations of Syria's "territorial integrity".
The Iranian News Agency (IRNA) denied the validity of the published reports regarding the presence of Iranians among the victims of the raids that targeted the Kafr Souseh area in Damascus last Saturday.
The agency denied - quoting reliable sources in Damascus - that any Iranian citizens were injured or killed during the Israeli attack on Kafr Sousse.
IRNA, quoting its office in Damascus, indicated that the Israeli raids killed 3 Syrian citizens and wounded several others.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Iran, Omar Hawash, said that the official Iranian news agency denied the occurrence of Iranian casualties, but did not deny the presence of a senior non-Iranian figure at the site.
The reporter added that it revealed that the targeted site is the same site where the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh, was assassinated in 2008.