Newsweek: Iran keeps building air defence network in Syria, Israel keeps bombing It

Iran has pursued the establishment of a comprehensive aerial defence network in Syria by sending equipment and personnel to the war-ravaged Arab nation in a project Israel has sought to thwart through repeated airstrikes, an intelligence source from a nation allied with the United States told Newsweek.

The source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the intelligence shared with Newsweek, recalled how Israeli airstrikes in Syria began in late 2017 as Iranian forces began to entrench themselves in the allied country. Such strikes have targeted "Iranian military assets and interests in the Syrian territory that threaten Israel", according to the source.

While Israel routinely neither confirms nor denies responsibility for the air campaign informally referred to in the country as "the war between wars," Syria has regularly blamed Israel for them and a multitude of international media reports, including from Newsweek, have cited Israel's involvement in this effort. The Israeli leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, has also occasionally praised such operations and the Israel Defence Forces have acknowledged certain operations in the past.

However, the source told Newsweek that over the course of "the last two years" Iran has shifted its strategy, "promoting the deployment of aerial defence capabilities on its behalf in Syria at a cost of tens of millions of dollars in order to deal with the Israeli airstrikes."

"The promotion of these capabilities is carried out as a project shared with the Syrian army and possibly even with the aim of enabling independent Iranian operation of the aerial defence systems from within parts of Syria," the source said. "In addition, the Iranians assisted the Syrians in upgrading their radar array, designed to aid in detection and prevention of Israeli attacks - mainly against the Iranian establishment in Syria."

The source said weapons involved in the effort include Iran's Sayyad (Hunter) 4B solid-propellant missile, unveiled in November at a ceremony attended by senior members of Iranian military leadership. The projectile was paired with the Bavar-373 surface-to-air missile system and is said to have a range of more than 186 miles with a radar range of more than 280 miles.

Officials touted greater capabilities for the domestically produced system than the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system as well as the Russia-built S-300 surface-to-air missile system.

Given that the Iranian batteries were being established on Syrian soil and often near sites held by the Syrian military, the source said that Syrian personnel were also being put "at risk" as a result of the Iranian project and the Israeli strikes against it.