![Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad leaves the hotel, where the team of chemichal experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are residing, on 15 April 2018, in Damascus. [LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-946492916.jpg?fit=1197%2C800&ssl=1)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad accused Israel of launching attacks on oil tankers as they made their way to Syria over the past few months, warning that such attacks “cannot continue without a price.”
Israeli attacks constitute a “violation of international law” and there must be a “deterrence” to stop Israel, the top diplomat in the Bashar Al-Assad regime added in an interview with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV.
Mekdad said that oil tankers coming to Syria are now “under Russian protection.”
Most of Syria’s oil fields are located in areas that are not under the control of the Assad regime, forcing the government to rely on Iran for its oil supplies.