An Israeli soldier drives an armored personal carrier during a military exercise in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An Israeli soldier drives an armored personal carrier during a military exercise in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An Israeli soldier of the Golani brigade covers himself in a prayer shawl as others gather for the morning prayer before a military exercise in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade, few covered in a prayer shawls gather for the morning prayer before a military exercise in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade, few covered in prayer shawls, gather for the morning prayer before a military exercise in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade gather in a tent, as the sun rises, before a military exercise in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
BEIRUT (AP) ? In his first reaction to Israel's weekend airstrikes, President Bashar Assad said Tuesday that Syria is capable of facing Israel, but stopped short of threatening retaliation for the attacks near the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Assad spoke after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who paid an unexpected visit to Damascus. Iran is one of Syria's closest allies.
Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia have become increasingly involved in Syria's civil war, supporting the regime with fighters, military advisers and weapons. Syria and Hezbollah have been key to Iran's expansion of influence into the Arab world, and a collapse of the Assad regime would be a major blow to Tehran.
"We are fully confident that Syria will emerge victorious from the crisis," Salehi said.
However, Israel's airstrikes on Friday and Sunday put Syria and Iran in a difficult position because they would run the risk of drawing Israel's powerful army into the war if they retaliate. At the same time, inaction further weakens Assad's already shaky claims to being the leader of the Arab world's hard-line, anti-Israeli camp.
Israel has not formally acknowledged the strikes, but Israeli officials have said they were targeting shipments of advanced Iranian weapons possibly bound for Hezbollah. The officials have said the aim was to deprive Hezbollah of weapons, not to raise tensions with Syria.
Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines since the uprising against Assad, which erupted in March 2011, turned into an armed insurgency and finally a civil war.
On Tuesday, Assad said Israel is supporting terrorists, a reference to the anti-regime rebels, and that Syria is "capable of facing Israel's ventures." He did not say what action he would take, if any.
Salehi adopted a slightly harsher tone, saying that "it is time to deter the Israeli occupiers from carrying out these aggressions against the peoples of the region." He also stopped short of threatening retaliation.
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