Iran angrily blames Russia for disrupting S-300 system

The Russian-made S-300 system could have thwarted Israeli's retaliatory actions following a missile strike toward northern Israel.

By BEN BRESKY, SARA RUBENSTEIN
Updated: JANUARY 27, 2019 10:59
The self-launching component of the S300 surface-to-air missile (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The self-launching component of the S300 surface-to-air missile
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Official news sources in Iran publicly attacked the Russian government, blaming them for deliberately  disrupting the S-300 air defense systems during the recent flare-up between their forces in Syria and Israel.
Meanwhile, Russia announced that the S-300 air defense systems in Syria are not ready for operation.
Israel hit several Iranian targets in Syria targets this week after a rocket was shot toward the northern border.
Iranian National Security and Foreign Policy Commission head Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh told the Islamic Republic News Agency that they were extremely dismayed by the fact that the S-300 system was inactive during the incident.
Falahatpisheh made the statement upon his return from Turkey. He blasted the "Zionist regime" as the ones responsible for creating instability in the region.
The IDF deployed an Iron Dome anti-missile battery late Thursday in central Israel.
In the predawn hours of Monday IDF fighter jets struck Iranian and Syrian military targets, air defense batteries and Quds Forces positions throughout Syria in response to the firing of a missile a day earlier toward the Golan Heights.
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted a projectile launched from Syria after Damascus accused Jerusalem of carrying out a rare daytime strike on the south of the country on Sunday.
Pictures from Israel’s popular Mount Hermon ski resort, which was full of tourists enjoying the snow-filled hill, showed two trails from Iron Dome missiles while screams from children were heard in a video from the scene.

The interception came shortly after the Syrian regime accused Israel of carrying out airstrikes in the south of the country, triggering air defenses that intercepted several of them.