Syria’s military chief of staff Ali Ayoub, in a meeting in Damascus with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Baqeri, praised the “efforts and sacrifices” made by the Islamic Republic, which among other international players, helped President Bashar Assad’s regime remain in power. General Ayoub said, “The great efforts and sacrifices made by them (Iran) are honored and appreciated,” he declared. With regard to the skirmish that took place earlier this week between Syrian and Israeli forces, when a Syrian SA-5 anti-aircraft battery was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force, that after the battery launched a missile toward Israeli fighter-jets on a reconnaissance mission over neighboring Lebanon, Syria’s military Chief declared that anyone who attacks Syria’s sovereignty will be confronted with an iron fist no matter who they are or whoever their supporters might be. He said, “We will not allow anyone, whoever they are and whoever their supporters are, to mess with these principles,” the Syrian Chief of staff warned.
During the joint press conference, the Iranian top military official declared that the Islamic Republic of Iran would not accept Israel’s violations of Syrian sovereignty, emphasizing that Iran’s military will stand by the Syrian armed forces to confront such threats. General Baqeri said, “It’s not acceptable for the Zionist regime to violate the land and airspace of Syria anytime it wants. We, in Iran, share the same feeling with the Syrian military and people who get frustrated and upset with such aggression and we will stand side by Syrian military and nation against such threats,” the Iranian military chief of staff declared.
In response to the Iranian threat directed at the Jewish state, the Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman indicated that the IDF would not be deterred from continuing its policy of thwarting Iranian attempts to transport sophisticated weapons in Syria to its proxies, including the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Lieberman noted, during a tour of the West Bank region of Binyamin, that Iran was undoubtedly attempting to spread its control into Syria and establish a military presence in a quest to become the dominant regional power – an aspiration the Israeli top defense official emphasized “is unacceptable to Israel.”