Iran provides Syria with the “Khordad” air system.. Will it stop the Israeli raids?

Tehran -

With the continued targeting of what Israel calls "Iranian targets" in Syria, the official Iranian agency, "IRNA", announced that it had reached an agreement under which Tehran would provide the Syrian army with "15 Khordad" air defense missiles to counter Israeli attacks.

defense systems

stationed in Syria to deal with them prompted the Syrian military authorities to purchase the Iranian air defense system (15 Khordad)."

The agreement was reached during the recent visit by the leaders of the Syrian Air Force to Iran and their meeting with the Iranian Minister of Defense and senior military commanders, which came after the Israeli attacks on the morning of February 19.

According to unofficial informed sources, the talk revolves around a deal signed in Tehran, which includes 3 phases. The first and second phases related to the places of deployment of the system and the provision of infrastructure for it in Syria, as well as training the Syrians on how to use and manage it, have been implemented so far.

What remains, which was agreed upon last Saturday, is to deliver the systems to Damascus and install them.

A picture of a building in a Damascus neighborhood after it was targeted by Israeli bombing on February 19 (communication sites)

deal and its timing

Mohammad Reza Moradi, an expert on Iranian-Arab relations and editor-in-chief of the international department of the Iranian Mehr Agency, says that Syria is a strategic ally of Iran, and it is natural that in order to understand this step, we must look at the issues from this angle.

Moradi believes that Iran's approach is based on preserving the territorial integrity of Syria.

The installation of advanced anti-aircraft missiles outside Iranian territory for the first time and on the "borders" of Israel comes in light of the decline in diplomacy and negotiation and the dominance of the idea of ​​confrontation in everything related to Iran and its nuclear and missile files and what it considers areas of influence, says expert Moradi.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, the expert points out that public order in the Middle East and Gulf region is not what Iran wants, adding that its efforts aim to establish a system based on the unity of the interests of the region and the consolidation of security in the region with the help of other influential countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE.

Regarding the establishment of this system, Moradi says, "It is natural for Iran to deepen its relations with all countries in the region, because it will be one of the important parties in this system."

Adding that "the development of relations will not be limited to the political and economic levels, but will also extend to military cooperation as part of Iran's strategy, and from this comes the sale of military weapons to Syria or any other Arab country," according to Moradi.

And he continues, "Given that Syria is a strategic ally of Iran, and the two countries have a common enemy, which is" Israel "and Damascus is witnessing Israeli aggression, it is natural for Iran to send a system to defend its ally."

With regard to the impact of this deal on the steps for Syria's return to the "Arab embrace", Moradi rules out that this deal will harm the process of "normalizing" relations between Arab countries and Syria, due to Iran's efforts to get closer to Saudi Arabia and avoid provoking any new dispute with it.

Iranian system despite the presence of the Russian

In comparison to the Russian defense systems available to the Syrian regime, Mukhtar Haddad, an expert on Iranian affairs and editor-in-chief of the official newspaper "Al-Wefaq", says that the "15 Khordad" system is accurate and advanced and competes with similar systems in various countries of the world, "as the Islamic Republic has developed its military capabilities, especially in the field of air defense in recent years significantly.

Haddad does not believe that there is a need for a difference or preference between the Russian systems stable in Syria and their Iranian counterpart, denying that Russia has prevented Syria from using its systems stable in Damascus because of its relations with Israel before the Ukrainian war.

In this regard, the analyst believes that Israel may have targeted areas of Syrian territory that were not covered by the Russian system in Syria, and that it did not face any Syrian response.

The former Iranian diplomat, Abu al-Qasim Delphi, says that the Russian defense system in Syria "does not meet the latter's needs, or it is possible that Moscow did not allow Damascus to use all the capabilities of the system to counter Israeli attacks," referring to "concessions" that Moscow made to the West for its return to the Middle East through presence in Syria.

Drones and long-range missiles at a former military parade in Tehran (Reuters)

Countering Israeli attacks

And whether this system can confront the repeated Israeli raids, Mukhtar Haddad says that Iran's provision of this system to Syria comes in the context of strategic cooperation between them, stressing that Iran's defense systems are advanced, "and there is no doubt that it will help Syria defend its lands and confront any Israeli attacks."

On the other hand, after Israel announced that it would provide Ukraine with the Iron Dome air defense system in exchange for Russian drones, expert Mokhtar Haddad ruled out the possibility of an agreement between Iran and Russia regarding Tehran's delivery of the "15 Khordad" air defense system to Damascus, despite the existence of cooperation. My defense between Iran and Syria for 40 years.

The diplomat, Abu al-Qasim Delfi, distances the Iranian-Russian cooperation under the "axis of resistance" from Iran's calculations with the East and its relations with Russia and even China.

Haddad adds that Iran does not want to become a party to the Ukrainian war in this way, explaining that "there are those who support Ukraine such as the Zionist entity, the West and NATO, while Iran confirmed that it does not want to support any of the parties in this war. And if Russia wants to respond to the support The Israeli side is for Ukraine, and it will respond without the help of a third country like Iran or Syria.

🚨 Soon you will be the ghost chasing the Israeli Air Force in Syria!

The Iranian 15 Khordad air defense system will be in the possession of the Syrian army, and we will provide you with the details

Scenes from the system's work: pic.twitter.com/axEVEM8DWB

- Muhammad Al-Ahwazi Abu Hadi 🇮🇷 (@Mohamedahwaz922) February 24, 2023

System "15 Khordad"

The "15 Khordad" system is one of the Iranian missile defense systems that was unveiled on June 9, 2019. It was tested on November 22, 2019.

This system can identify various targets, including warplanes and drones, within a range of 150 km, and it can track them at a range of 120 km using the local detectors provided with it.

It can also detect targets such as stealth aircraft within a range of 85 km and hit them at a range of 45 km.

It can drop targets at a maximum height of 27 km and within a range of 75 and 120 km, and it uses 3 launchers, each with a capacity of 4 Iranian "Sayyad 2" and "Sayyad 3" missiles.

It can also load and use two different types of missiles with different ranges, capable of intercepting 6 targets simultaneously.