First shipment of Russian missiles- S300- has arrived, says Assad-Live

The first shipment of Russian anti-aircraft missiles has arrived in Syria, Bashar al-Assad has said, according to Lebanese TV.

The Al-Manar TV channel owned by the Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has joined the fighting Syrian people on Assad’s side, said it would air a full interview with the Syrian president later today.

Israel has indicated it is likely to attack the weapons if they fall into the hands of Hezbollah or other hostile groups. "I don't know how upset the Russians would be if, at some point between payment and the installation of this technology in Damascus by Russian experts, something was done to damage the weaponry.

As long as no Russians were hurt and they got paid, I don't think they would care," an Israeli diplomat told the Guardian yesterday. The Russian move to fulfil its longstanding deal with Syria is widely seen as being retaliation for the EU’s move to drop its arms embargo on the Syrian rebels.

In the same context, Jim Muir, the BBC’s Middle East correspondent, said there had been “some question about whether this was going to be a theoretical delivery, in other words something they have agreed to but haven’t actually done, and actually carrying it out … It is a very highly charged situation, and for Mr Assad to say that they already have these advanced missiles really carries things forward quite dramatically.” He added.

Israel says those missiles could threaten Israeli aviation over Tel Aviv, for example, because they are long range, and they could also counter electronic counter-measures, so they’re advanced, and from Israel’s point of view they are dangerous.

He added that the planned peace conference was “in disarray” and “falling apart”.

Zaman Alwasl - Guardian