Israel and Russia have thwarted Iran’s assets in Syria
Amidst the electoral battles in Israel, military officials of this state spent the weekend announcing and celebrating the success of their military in eliminating 90% of Iran’s capabilities and facilities in Syria.
In recent years, Israel has undertaken serious and extensive coordination with the Russians to plan attacks on Iranian forces, Iranian facilities, and routes for transferring Iranian troops and equipment. This coordination at one point reached the peak of maximum cooperation. Yair Lapid, the current Prime Minister of Israel, officially stated while serving as Foreign Minister that it is Russia, not Syria or Bashar al-Assad’s government, that is the neighbor of the occupied territories.
In the past two years, Russia has effectively forced Bashar al-Assad to comply with its policy of cooperation with the Israelis. Israel’s assessment of this process is that Bashar al-Assad’s maximum obedience to the Russians has led to a serious limitation of Iranian activities in Syria by the Syrian president. In the period after the reversal of its invasion of Ukraine and the pressure on its forces in that country, Russia transferred many of its important systems and forces from Syria to Ukraine. The transfer of the S-300 system was a significant development and a serious warning for Iran, which apparently ignored it.