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Assad Warns Israel, Claiming a Stockpile of Russian Weapons Assad Warns Israel, Claiming a Stockpile of Russian Weapons
(about 3 hours later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria displayed a new defiance in a television interview broadcast on Thursday, warning Israel and suggesting that he had secured plenty of weapons from Russia as his opponents falter politically and Hezbollah fighters infuse force into his military campaign. BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria displayed a new level of defiance on Thursday, warning Israel that he could permit attacks on the Golan Heights and suggesting that he had secured plenty of weapons from Russia — possibly including an advanced missile system — as his opponents faltered politically and Hezbollah fighters infused force into his military campaign to crush the Syrian insurgency.
Mr. Assad spoke in an interview on Al Manar television, which is owned by his ally Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese Shiite militant group, further punctuating his message of growing confidence that he could prevail in a civil war that is now more than two years old and has claimed more than 80,000 lives. Mr. Assad spoke in an interview broadcast on Al-Manar television, which is owned by his ally Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese Shiite militant group, further punctuating his message of growing confidence that he could prevail over an insurgency that is now more than two years old and has claimed more than 80,000 lives.
Asked about Russian weapons deliveries, Mr. Assad said: “Russia is committed with Syria in implementing these contracts. What we agreed upon with Russia will be implemented, and part of it has been implemented over the recent period, and we are continuing to implement it.”Asked about Russian weapons deliveries, Mr. Assad said: “Russia is committed with Syria in implementing these contracts. What we agreed upon with Russia will be implemented, and part of it has been implemented over the recent period, and we are continuing to implement it.”
He was vague on whether Russia’s deliveries had included an advanced S-300 air defense missile system — of particular concern to Israel because those missiles can hit deep inside Israeli territory. He was vague on whether Russia’s deliveries had included a sophisticated S-300 air missile system — of particular concern to Israel because it could compromise its ability to strike Syria from the air and because those missiles can hit deep inside Israeli territory. The Israelis have said they would not abide a Syrian deployment of S-300s, suggesting they would use force to destroy them.
Before the broadcast, Al Manar had sent out text messages that paraphrased Mr. Assad as saying Syria had already received a first shipment of the S-300 missiles. Before the broadcast, Al-Manar sent out text messages that paraphrased Mr. Assad as saying Syria had already received a first shipment of the S-300 missiles.
It was unclear why those comments were not included in the broadcast. American and Israeli officials have been pressing Russia not to deliver the S-300 system to Syria. It was unclear why Al-Manar said before the broadcast that Mr. Assad had spoken about the missile system when it was not directly mentioned in the televised interview. Al-Manar later said it mischaracterized what Mr. Assad had said. But American and Israeli officials have been pressing Russia to defer the S-300 system delivery to Syria, and there were other indications that the paraphrased comments may have been a premature boast or bluff.
Mr. Assad spent considerable time in the interview to warn Israel, which attacked suspected weapons caches in Syria earlier this month. He called Israel the underlying instigator of the Syrian crisis. Israeli officials and Western diplomats in the region said they did not believe such a system had yet arrived in Syria, with some saying any delivery could be at least a few weeks away. Even so, the possibility presented a new risk that the Syrian war could expand into a broader conflict.
“We will retaliate for any Israeli aggression next time,” Mr. Assad said. He also suggested the possibility of renewed fighting in the Golan Heights, the disputed border area occupied by Israel, that has been largely quiet for for more than 40 years. “We’re in stormy waters indeed,” said Jonathan Spyer, a senior research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. “Somebody or other has to not do what they have openly claimed they would do. Somebody has to lose serious face, and governments don’t like to lose face at the moment of serious confrontation.”
Mr. Assad spent considerable time in the interview to warn Israel, which attacked what it suspected were weapons caches in Syria this month that the Israelis suspected were bound for Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
“We will retaliate for any Israeli aggression next time,” Mr. Assad said. He also suggested the possibility of renewed fighting in the Golan Heights, the disputed border area occupied by Israel, which has been largely quiet for more than 40 years.
“In fact, there is clear popular pressure to open the Golan front to resistance,” Mr. Assad said. The Syrian government, he said, had received “many Arab delegations wanting to know how young people might be enrolled to come and fight Israel.”“In fact, there is clear popular pressure to open the Golan front to resistance,” Mr. Assad said. The Syrian government, he said, had received “many Arab delegations wanting to know how young people might be enrolled to come and fight Israel.”
Mr. Assad reiterated the Syrian government’s intention to attend a peace United Nations peace conference on Syria, which Russia and the United States have been seeking to convene in coming weeks. But he said any agreements that might result from such a conference would have to be approved by Syrians in a referendum. Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Mr. Assad’s comments on the Golan were worrisome in the context of other recent statements from Syria, particularly its assertion that Israel had violated the 1974 agreement that has allowed for the calm along the cease-fire line.
Even as Mr. Assad’s broadcast was aired, fissures within the Syrian opposition widened, with rebel military commanders demanding a significant new role in the main exile organization. “It’s a very sensitive, explosive situation being created by the new level of rhetoric,” Mr. Yaari said. “You ask yourself whether the rhetoric is not going to lead to actions at some point.”
The disparity underscored the fact that Mr. Assad appeared to be consolidating his position, buttressed on both military and political fronts by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, while the Western-backed opposition stumbles toward ever more serious disarray. Mr. Assad reiterated the Syrian government’s intention to attend a United Nations peace conference on Syria, which Russia and the United States have been seeking to convene in Geneva in coming weeks despite their own differences over the conflict. But he said any agreements that might result from such a conference would have to be approved by Syrians in a referendum.
All week, the 63-member National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, the main rebel group, has been entangled anew in petty disputes over how many seats to add. Its leadership announced Thursday that it would boycott a peace conference sponsored jointly by Russia and the United States and expected to convene in Geneva in the coming weeks. It blamed the boycott on Iranian and Hezbollah interference in Syria, but analysts saw it as a position born of weakness and the inability to forge a strong, united bargaining front. Even as Mr. Assad’s interview was broadcast, fissures within the Syrian opposition widened, with rebel military commanders demanding a significant new role in the main exile organization.
The disparity underscored the fact that Mr. Assad appeared to be consolidating his position, buttressed on both military and political fronts by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, while the Western-backed opposition stumbled toward ever more serious disarray.
All week, the 63-member Syrian Coalition, the main rebel group, has been entangled anew in petty disputes over how many seats to add. Its leadership announced Thursday that it would boycott the peace conference. It attributed the boycott to Iranian and Hezbollah interference in Syria, but analysts saw it as a position born of weakness and the inability to forge a strong, united bargaining front.
“This is a low point,” said Amr al-Azm, a Syrian-born history professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio who tracks the opposition. “Unlike earlier screaming matches, you have a bad military situation on the ground and Geneva is looming and the opposition has nothing to play. This is as bad as it gets.”“This is a low point,” said Amr al-Azm, a Syrian-born history professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio who tracks the opposition. “Unlike earlier screaming matches, you have a bad military situation on the ground and Geneva is looming and the opposition has nothing to play. This is as bad as it gets.”
Russian officials had said earlier this week that the country would deliver the S-300 weapons to Syria, a move that Mr. Assad’s opponents said was a sign that neither Russia nor the Syrian government was serious about the proposed negotiations to end the Syrian civil war. Both the United States and Russia face difficult prospects in getting the Geneva talks even to begin. Representatives of the organizers are expected to meet in Geneva on June 5 to discuss details, including a concrete date.
The interview with Mr. Assad was taped on Tuesday, according to the Beirut news director of Iran’s English-language Press TV. That same day, Israel’s defense minister declared categorically that the missile system had not yet been delivered. Moscow faces the challenge of getting Mr. Assad to send a strong enough delegation to make real decisions about a cease-fire and a political transition — essentially a delegation that will agree to limit his power. The ministers he has named to the delegation so far are political appointees with no real power and no role in the inner circle.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic constraints, said on Thursday that the S-300 missile system does not just “come in a box” and that different elements would probably be delivered in stages. It is possible, he said, that some parts have arrived in Syria, but there is no indication at this stage that the system is anywhere near operational. It will be tough to convince Mr. Assad because he feels that he is negotiating from a position of strength, analysts said. The thud of artillery has diminished around Damascus, and there are few checkpoints in the past couple of weeks, according to recent visitors. With a fresh infusion of Hezbollah fighters, government forces might soon expel the opposition from the important crossroads town of Qusayr, which they have held for months.
Secretary of State John Kerry has raised the issue of the arms sales with the Russians, even as he and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, are trying to arrange a meeting between the Assad government and the rebels. Asked about the missiles and Israeli warnings that the deliveries of them would pose a threat to Israel, the State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said on Wednesday: “We support Israel’s ability to defend themselves, certainly, but we remain hopeful and remain committed to working towards a political transition. And that’s what our focus is here on Syria.” That would mean Mr. Assad controls all the territory he cares about most, analysts said, namely the area around the capital and the key route to the coastal stronghold of his Alawite minority, which dominates the government.
In Washington, Caitlin Hayden, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said on Thursday that although she could not comment on specific arms shipments, “our concerns about Russia’s continued support for the Syrian regime through the provision of arms and access to Russian banks are well known.” For the United States and its allies, the first challenge is creating a united delegation from an opposition that has always been anything but united.
“Providing additional weapons to Assad — including air defense systems — will only prolong the violence in Syria and incite regional destabilization,” she added. The Syrian Coalition has been plagued by internal turmoil since its inception in late 2011.
The Syrian government and the opposition have hardened their positions in recent days, casting doubt on the future of the proposed talks as each side declares a starting point that is thoroughly unacceptable to the other. The group has failed to deliver on most of its promises, ranging from distributing humanitarian aid to areas outside government control, to creating a unified military command, to becoming a serious government-in-exile.
On Wednesday, the Syrian opposition said Mr. Assad’s departure was a prerequisite of talks — a condition his government and Russia reject — while Syria’s foreign minister said that Mr. Assad would stay on at least until 2014 and might seek re-election and that any peace agreement would have to be approved by a referendum. Instead the uneasy, distrustful members — dominated by long-exiled members of the Muslim Brotherhood, academics living abroad for decades and political activists fleeing Syria — have spent most of their time in luxury hotels arguing over which faction should claim what responsibility.
Syrian rebel commanders have also issued aggressive statements in recent days, threatening to attack Hezbollah and even the Lebanese Army inside Lebanon if Hezbollah’s intervention is not halted. The coalition’s problems have not been lost on Mr. Assad, who spoke contemptuously of his political adversaries in the Al-Manar television interview, describing them as exiles and paid stooges of hostile foreign governments — another indication that prospects for the Geneva conference are dim.
Late Wednesday, Lebanon’s president, Michel Suleiman, a political ally of Hezbollah, issued an unusual statement calling on Hezbollah to pull out of Syria for the sake of Lebanese security and the integrity of the group’s primary mission, fighting Israel. “We will attend this conference as the official delegation and legitimate representatives of the Syrian people,” he said. “But, whom do they represent? When this conference is over, we return to Syria, we return home to our people. But when the conference is over, whom do they return to — five-star hotels?”
Lebanese politicians of every stripe have been loath to directly confront Hezbollah, which fields the most seasoned and influential military force in the country, trumping even the army. But as rocket attacks on Hezbollah areas have increased along with sectarian anger, a growing chorus has expressed fears that Hezbollah, fighting on the Syrian government side, and Lebanese Sunni militants supporting the rebels are destabilizing the country.

Anne Barnard reported from Beirut, and Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations. Reporting was contributed by Hala Droubi from Beirut, Jodi Rudoren and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, Steven Lee Myers and Michael R. Gordon from Washington, and Rick Gladstone from New York.

Mr. Suleiman said he wished that Hezbollah’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, would not “involve the resistance” — as Hezbollah and its confrontation with Israel are known here — in Syria’s war.
He even compared Hezbollah’s intervention — which its leaders and supporters have described as a pre-emptive war to prevent Sunni extremists involved in the Syrian uprising from infiltrating or attacking Lebanon — to the pre-emptive war doctrine President George W. Bush formulated to justify the United States invasion of Iraq.
“I am against anything pre-emptive, like the wars of ex-U.S. President George Bush,” Mr. Suleiman said, a stinging rebuke in a region where American foreign policy in general and Mr. Bush in particular are deeply unpopular.
Mr. Suleiman also said he opposed Hezbollah’s plans to help the Syrian government open a front in the Golan Heights, the disputed border area between Syria and Israel. “Who guarantees that Israel does not attack Lebanon?” he said.
Israel has lobbied Russia not to deliver the S-300 missiles to Syria. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned on Tuesday that Israel would view such a move as a threat and that it could prompt an Israeli reaction.
“The deliveries have not taken place, I can attest to this, and I hope they do not,” Mr. Yaalon said. “If, by some fortune, they arrive in Syria, we will know what to do.”
Three major Israeli newspapers reported on Thursday that Israel’s national security adviser recently told a group of European ambassadors that Israel’s red line regarding the S-300s was the point at which they become operational. The Israeli official, who requested anonymity, said that the S-300 was a “very advanced and complicated system” and that different functions could become operational at different times.
Israel has long opposed Russian plans to supply Syria with the S-300 antiaircraft system. Since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, Israel has also declared that it will not tolerate the transfer of game-changing weapons from the Syrian government to Hezbollah or the possibility that they could fall into the hands of extremist rebels. Israel is believed to have bombed targets in Syria three times this year, including a convoy of Russian-supplied SA-17 surface-to-air missiles.
Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of strategic and intelligence affairs, told an audience of reporters and diplomats in Jerusalem on Tuesday that Israel did not want to get involved in the civil war in Syria and had decided not to ask or encourage the United States or Europe to take any action there, because of the highly complex situation.
He said the Russian S-300 system could be used offensively as well as defensively. With a range of around 125 to 185 miles, he said, its missiles could threaten civilian and military aircraft deep inside Israeli territory.
There was no immediate official comment from Russia on the Assad interview, but state-run news outlets reported the details of the transcript of his interview.
A spokesman for Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who asked not to be identified in line with government policy, said, “This is an unhelpful decision by the Russians, supplying to a regime that has shown itself to be incapable of using its weapons systems proportionately or discriminatingly.”

Reporting was contributed by Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, Steven Lee Myers and Michael R. Gordon from Washington, Stephen Castle from London and Hala Droubi from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.