Syrian regime allies, the downing of Israeli F-16 is a strategic shift

LONDON: Once again, events in Syria risk to spill beyond its border. The downing of the Israeli F-16 over Syria is a first in the Syrian war.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with PM Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to avoid escalation. Washington on the other hand announced that it strongly supports Israel’s sovereign right to defend itself. A statement published by the state department accused Iran of “a calculated escalation of threat and Tehran’s ambition to project its power and dominance places all the people of the region from Yemen to Lebanon at risk”
Iran denounced Israeli “lies” on Saturday and said Syria had the right to “legitimate self-defense” in response to air strikes launched by Israel after an alleged Iranian drone incursion into its territory. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said.
Iranian spokespersons went on to claim that the downed Iranian drone By Tel Aviv was on a surveillance operation monitoring Daesh.
Ghashmi also re-iterated Tehran’s position that it “does not have a military presence in Syria, and has only sent military advisers at the request of the Syrian government.”
Lebanon also criticized the Israeli strikes, and said it would write a letter of protest to the United Nations over the use of its airspace for the raids, according to a statement from its foreign ministry.
Lebanese pro Iranian Militia Hezbollah indicated in a statement today that the shooting down of an Israeli F-16 jet fighter is “the start of a new strategic phase” which would limit Israeli exploitation of Syrian airspaces.

Syrian regime allies, the downing of Israeli F-16 is a strategic shift